Donald Cerrone
Donald Cerrone wanted to fight again as quickly as possible after his win over Myles Jury this past weekend at UFC 182. Two weeks seems pretty quick.
UFC President Dana White announced on Instagram that Cerrone (26-6 MMA, 13-3 UFC) has agreed to step in for an injured Eddie Alvarez (25-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and will now meet Benson Henderson (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) at next week’s UFC Fight Night 59 event.
UFC Fight Night 59 takes place on Jan. 18, 2015 at Boston’s TD Garden. The four-fight main card airs on FOX Sports 1 (10 p.m. ET) following six preliminary bouts on the same channel (7 p.m. ET) and two that stream on UFC Fight Pass (6 p.m. ET).
Cerrone is ranked No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, and Henderson is No. 5. (Alvarez is No. 9.)
Cerrone dominated a previously undefeated Jury at UFC 182, but the lack of action left “Cowboy” pressing for a quick return to action. He’s now won six straight, all in the UFC, while earning four fight-night bonuses. He’ll now meet a familiar foe in Henderson, who handed Cerrone a pair of losses in WEC title fights.
Henderson hopes to get back on the winning track after a knockout loss to Rafael dos Anjos in August at UFC Fight Night 49. Henderson protested the stoppage despite taking a stiff punch from dos Anjos that knocked him over. The setback snapped a two-fight winning streak that included a “Performance of the Night” submission of Rustam Khabilov at UFC Fight Night 42.
A timetable for Alvarez’s return wasn’t immediately established.
With the change, UFC Fight Night 59 now includes:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
- Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver
- Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson
- Uriah Hall vs. Louis Taylor
- Norman Parke vs. Gleison Tibau
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET)
- Cathal Pendred vs. Sean Spencer
- John Howard vs. Lorenz Larkin
- Zhang Lipeng vs. Chris Wade
- Patrick Holohan vs. Shane Howell
- Johnny Case vs. Frankie Perez
- Charles Rosa vs. Sean Soriano
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET)
- Sean O’Connell vs. Matt Van Buren
- Tateki Matsuda vs. Joby Sanchez
For more on UFC Fight Night 59, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
