Why Is Donald Cerrone Always On The Brink?

The co-main event of last Saturday’s (January 28, 2017) UFC on FOX 23 from the Pepsi Center in Denver was supposed to be yet another opportunity for surging welterweight Donald Cerrone to obtain his next shot at UFC gold.

Long one of the UFC’s most popular fighters, “Cowboy” had erased the bad memories of his shockingly one-sided lightweight loss to then-champion Rafael dos Anjos in late 2015 by moving up to welterweight and promptly running through four straight challenges – all by way of impressive stoppage – in under a calendar year.

The win streak, which featured dominant TKO wins over veterans Patrick Cote and Rick Story and was most recently capped off by a scintillating head kick knockout of Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown at December 10’s UFC 206, justifiably had ‘Cowboy’ on the precipice of another title shot, and he was far from shy from talking about it before his bout with the highly underrated Jorge Masvidal. But Masvidal didn’t get the memo, willing calling out ‘Cowboy’ for his home state of Colorado and acknowledging he would have a tough time winning a decision there – so he had to knock Cerrone out.

And similar to dos Anjos, “Gamebred” used the gameplan that’s now become the go-to strategy for defeating ‘Cowboy’, that of implementing heavy body work to open up the opportunity for a flurry of head shots that lead to a stoppage. The fight was competitive throughout the most part of the first round until Masvidal opened things up with a flurry as time expired, leaving Cerrone splayed on the canvas as the crowd wondered if referee Herb Dean had called it off. Many thought he certainly could have, and this image from the end of the first round tells the story:

But ever the tough-as-nails fighter, Cerrone was allowed to continue in his hometown, for better or worse. It turned out to be the latter, as Masvidal, who offered the belief that he had ‘knocked Cerrone out twice,’ toyed with his dazed opponent before dropping him and opening up with an absolutely brutal onslaught of body work before Dean stepped in for what appeared to be a mercy stoppage at that point.

After the fight, UFC President Dana White was critical of Cerrone’s all-out style following a win only a month-and-a-half earlier, but acknowledged he knew that’s simply who he is:

“It is what it is,. Mistakes are going to happen and it’s one of those…listen, I hate when ‘Cowboy’ does this. You know, he’s got four wins at welterweight and he wants to fight back-to-back like this, but that’s who this kid is. That’s what he wants to do, it is what it is.”

Love him or hate him – and many have done a fair amount of the latter lately – it’s hard to argue with White’s stance here. The quick turnaround may be a valid point, but it might also be an excuse considering we’ve seen Cerrone fail to deliver in these high-pressure situations more than one time before. In addition to his aforementioned loss to dos Anjos, he was also finished by Anthony Pettis in a bout that most likely would have earned a lightweight title shot in 2013, and by another body shot, no less.

It’s hard to pinpoint just what is causing Cerrone’s repeated track record of running through a number of good (but not elite) fighters only to fall painfully short in the fight that matters most. Perhaps he looked past Masvidal to his perceived title shot against the winner of March 4’s UFC 209 rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson, or perhaps this phenomenon is real.

That’s not to trash ‘Cowboy’s’ body of work, however.

He’s one of the most recognizable names in the UFC for many reasons. By the end of his career, he’ll almost assuredly threaten to tie or break several hallowed records such as wins, overall fights due to his insanely quick turnarounds, and post-fight bonuses. He’s also guaranteed action who comes to finish or get finished, something that probably can’t be said for the majority of the UFC roster. But as the hangover of his latest knockout loss in a huge fight slowly seeps away, his fans can’t help but wonder if this trend is too frequent to deny, and also if he could benefit from taking just a bit more time off between bouts.

Because ‘Cowboy’ always seems to be on the brink of obtaining true greatness in MMA right before he falls painfully short in another must-win bout.