Donald Cerrone vs. Bobby Green Set For UFC 178 Co-Main Event
Earlier this week (Tues., August 12, 2014), it was announced UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had been forced out of his anticipated UFC 178 title fight with heated rival Daniel Cormier on September 27 from Las Vegas.
The injury caused a bit of event shuffling, with August 30’s UFC 177 co-main event between flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso now becoming UFC 178’s main event.
The card still features some great bouts, with the Las Vegas debut of rising featherweight Conor McGregor, who will square off with the dangerous Dustin Poirier, the return of Dominick Cruz and Cat Zingano, and a top-level middleweight showdown of Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero.
Tonight, however, the card became even more packed with fireworks as the UFC announced a pivotal lightweight war between surging combatants Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Bobby Green:]:
.@cowboycerrone vs @bobbykgreen booked as co-main for #UFC178! http://t.co/ouzbjJ1I30 Tix: http://t.co/9XUvskVITZ pic.twitter.com/mNvUbndthW
— UFC (@ufc) August 15, 2014
Ranked at No. 4, “Cowboy” has cut a path through the talented 155-pound division since late 2013, finishing Evan Dunham, Adriano Martins, Edson Barboza, and most recently, tough veteran Jim Miller at UFC Fight Night 45, earning a post-fight bonus after each bout.
He was supposed to fight No. 3 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov until “The Eagle” was forced out with a knee injury mere minutes after the fight was announced.
Not to be outdone, Green has won all four of his fights in the Octagon, with his latest (and greatest) win being a decision win over former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson at July 26’s UFC on FOX 12. The No. 7-ranked “King” got the trash talk started early with Cerrone, unleashing the following on Twitter:
@ufc @Cowboycerrone I’m so excited I finally get to get my hands on Donny I’ve been waiting for this for a year just want u to know I’m
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) August 15, 2014
@ufc @Cowboycerrone Going to make your life a living hell I’m going to beat your ass every round if u thought Diaz or pettis worked u boy u
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) August 15, 2014
@ufc @Cowboycerrone Got another thing coming u bit off more than u can chew your striking is last year and I’m going to expose it #KingArmy
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) August 15, 2014
With the addition of the top-level bout, the current lineup of the still-stacked UFC 178 looks as follows:
Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso
Donald Cerrone vs. Bobby Green
Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero
Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes
Jorge Masvidal vs. James Krause
Brian Ebersole vs. John Howard
Stephen Thompson vs. Patrick Cote
Kevin Lee vs. Jon Tuck
Manny Gamburyan vs. Cody Gibson
Photo: Bill Streicher for USA TODAY Sports
