Some breaking news has come in this evening. MMA Fighting was first to report that the UFC is in the process of finalizing a lightweight matchup between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (36-15-1, 2 NC) and Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez (30-13).
The fight will take place at a UFC Fight Night on May 8th. Recently, Diego Sanchez said that he just had one more nightmare to give and announced that he would be retiring after his next fight inside the octagon.Â
Sanchez has been with the UFC since 2005 and he won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. The Nightmare has had such an incredible career and he’s fought across three different weight classes during his run with the UFC.
Sanchez will make the walk on May 8th for the final time with a 3-2 record in his last five fights. Granted, one of those wins was a DQ win against Michel Pereira in a fight he was getting dominated. If he had lost that fight, he would have lost three straight entering this final fight.
The UFC has been kicking the tires on potential opponents for Sanchez’s last fight. They found the perfect opponent in Cowboy Cerrone. Both legends are fan favorites and there is a little bit of history between the two men.
A little UFC bad blood?
A couple of years ago, Cowboy Cerrone left Jackson-Wink which had been his gym for years. He made this move prior to the Mike Perry fight. Diego Sanchez has been at Jackson-Wink for his entire career and wasn’t fond of the way Cerrone handled the situation.
Sanchez had called for a fight with Cerrone and now he gets his chance. Cowboy Cerrone has fallen on hard times over the last year and a half. When 2019 started, Cerrone moved back to the UFC’s lightweight division for a run at the title.
He started out strong knocking out Alexander Hernandez and defeating Al Iaquinta. However, that’s when he ran into Tony Ferguson at UFC 238. In a title eliminator matchup, Ferguson dominated Cowboy.
Cowboy was then stopped by Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor in back-to-back fights in the first round. In May, he lost a decision to Anthony Pettis, but the fight was razor close. We last saw Cowboy in September when he fought to a draw with Niko Price.
Granted, had Price not lost a point, he would have won the fight. In the eyes of the public, Cerrone has gone from a UFC title contender to losing five straight fights. Cowboy seems motivated right now and has documented that on his YouTube page.
However, a loss on May 8th might mean that both Cowboy and Sanchez will walk away after the fight for good. Regardless of their age and records, this is going to be an incredibly fun fight that fans should be excited for.