Prior to his UFC 150 bout with Melvin Guillard, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone said he wanted to take on Anthony Pettis and the UFC plans to make that fight after Cerrone’s win last night in Denver.
UFC President Dana White told Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting that the bout between Cerrone and Pettis will be a number one contenders fight in the UFC lightweight division.
During the UFC 150 Conference Call last week, Cerrone said that he has been wanting a fight with Pettis and the last WEC lightweight champion had turned down the fight. Pettis then reacted by saying the only time he turned down a fight against Cerrone was for this card, since he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.
After hearing what Cerrone had to say about him, Pettis said he would gladly take a fight against Cerrone if he defeated Guillard.
The UFC has not announced a potential date for this fight, but Pettis mentioned the possibility of having the fight at UFC 154 in Montreal.
Pettis (15-2) is currently on a two fight winning streak after being defeated by Clay Guida in his UFC debut last year. He has been promised a title shot on two separate occasions and White said they plan to make it up to him.
Cerrone (19-4, 1NC) has been one of the most active fighters in the UFC since coming to the organization in the merger with the WEC and has won six of his seven fights in the UFC. With his knockout and fight of the night bonus last night, he has won six fight night bonus.
If this bout does indeed happen at UFC 154, it will likely be the co-main event of the fight card as the main event is being targeted for Georges St-Pierre to meet Carlos Condit to unify the UFC welterweight title.