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Lynch's Mailbag: What's next for Cerrone?

Jeff Bottari / UFC / Getty

Welcome to Lynch's Mailbag, a weekly feature by senior MMA news editor James Lynch.

Send James a DM @LynchOnSports or an email at james.lynch@thescore.com to submit questions for next week's article. The following questions have been edited for clarity and grammar.

What's your guess for Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone's next move? - Reyan Ali

First off, if you haven't checked out Reyan's book on the history of the classic video game NBA Jam, you can do so here. Second, Cerrone should take some time off after suffering three straight stoppage losses. The 36-year-old is out of the title picture at both welterweight and lightweight, so you'd think a matchup against a notable, veteran opponent would be the way to go.

How about a rematch against former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis? Pettis also suffered a loss at UFC 246 - to Diego Ferreira - and has struggled to find consistency since losing his title in 2015. Cerrone and Pettis' first fight ended early, with the latter securing a quick TKO finish. A rematch, perhaps at welterweight, could be fun.

Do you see Yoel Romero as Israel Adesanya's biggest threat in the middleweight division? If not, who? - @ChiniImaan

Romero will certainly be a tough test for Adesanya at UFC 248, not only with his powerful striking but also with his underappreciated wrestling. But I'll have to side with Paulo Costa, who defeated Romero at UFC 241 in August.

Costa remains undefeated after silencing critics who questioned his cardio by earning a three-round decision over Romero. Once the Brazilian fully recovers from bicep surgery, he could be a very interesting matchup for Adesanya.

If Tony Ferguson beats Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC Brooklyn, which matchup would be bigger: Ferguson versus McGregor, or a rematch between McGregor and Nurmagomedov? - Robert Taverner

There's a reason UFC president Dana White kept alluding to McGregor potentially earning a title shot against Nurmagomedov prior to UFC 246. That's because one of the biggest fights in the UFC right now would be a rematch between McGregor and Nurmagomedov.

Aside from the fact that Nurmagomedov has a large international following, the bad blood between these two in their first encounter at UFC 229 would give their rematch a built-in storyline. While Ferguson has a hardcore following, he doesn't carry the same popularity Nurmagomedov does.

Ferguson has also lost three times in his career, whereas the potential for McGregor to hand Nurmagomedov his first loss would be another intriguing factor in a potential rematch.

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