Cowboy vs. Gaethje to headline UFC Vancouver
Canada will be treated to a lightweight war in September.
Top 155-pound contenders Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Justin Gaethje will square off in the main event of UFC Vancouver on Sept. 14, Dana White confirmed to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
"Get ready, Vancouver!" White said. "This fight is going to be ridiculous!"
Cerrone (36-12) teased the bout between the two top-five lightweights on social media before White's official announcement:
It will be Cerrone's fourth Octagon appearance of the year, and the UFC veteran will be looking to get himself back into title contention after Tony Ferguson snapped his three-fight win streak - the latter two came at 155 lbs - via a second-round TKO in June.
Doctors were forced to stop the highly anticipated clash between Cerrone and Ferguson after the former's eye swelled shut following an ill-advised decision to blow his nose.
Meanwhile, the exhilarating Gaethje (20-2) has rebounded from an April 2018 loss to interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier with back-to-back wins over James Vick and Edson Barboza, both coming via first-round knockout.
Gaethje has earned Fight of the Night honors four times in just five UFC fights, while Cerrone has taken home the bonus six times during his storied career, so it would seem fair to suggest this matchup will produce the kind of fireworks to be a Fight of the Year contender.
Listen to theScore MMA's Senior MMA News Editor - and Vancouver resident - James Lynch's thoughts on the bout. Subscribe to theScoreMMA Youtube channel here.