Two absolute legends in MMA will battle it out tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC Austin. Lightweight greats Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (36-16, 2 NC) will be making the walk to take on Joe Lauzon (28-15).
This fight is taking on the feel of a loser leaves town kind of matchup. Fitting that this will all go down in Texas. For Lauzon, he’s actually going to be looking to pick up his second straight win. Granted, the last win came back in 2019 against Jonathan Pierce.
We haven’t seen Lauzon in the UFC in almost three years. He wasn’t sure if he was going to come back, but for a fight with Cowboy, he was willing to do it. Win, lose, or draw, this might be the last fight for Lauzon.
Speaking of 2019, that’s when Donald Cerrone was making a run up the latter again in the UFC’s lightweight division. Three straight big wins got him into a title eliminator against Tony Ferguson.
However, starting with the Ferguson fight, Cerrone is 0-5, 1 NC in his last six fights. He’s been stopped in four of those losses. Cerrone wants 50 combined fights with the UFC and WEC before he retires. He needs to win tomorrow to make it happen. If he wins tomorrow, he has two more fights in his legendary career.
UFC Austin Preview
If this fight went down a few years ago, I would have no issues in picking Donald Cerrone to win. Cerrone has tremendous skills on the ground and he’s a much better and more decorated striker than Joe Lauzon.
However, this isn’t the same Cowboy Cerrone that we’re used to and honestly, I don’t know what to expect at UFC Austin. What I do know is that Joe Lauzon has very deceptive power and unorthodox striking.
I could definitely see a scenario playing out where Lauzon catches Cowboy and puts him away. Frankly I wouldn’t say it’s a bad bet. However, something tells me that Cowboy gets back in the win column at UFC Austin.
Given how badly he needs a win, I’m expecting a little more cautious approach to Cowboy tomorrow. Expect him to work his range and work his kicks. In the end, I think he’ll do enough to squeak by with a decision win.
Prediction: Cowboy Cerrone by Decision