Donald Cerrone
Donald Cerrone

The Twitter world lit up Monday evening when it was announced that Donald Cerrone will return to action in less than two weeks to replace an injured Eddie Alvarez and fight Ben Henderson.

That’s right, he’s going to fight former lightweight champion Ben Henderson on less than two weeks notice.

That can’t be smart the Twitter verse said, but not so fast my friend.

It’s actually a very smart decision for Cerrone on multiple fronts:

  • Cerrone will be getting PAID AGAIN without having to get beat up for nothing in a long training camp
  • Cerrone has fought Henderson twice(losing both), so familiarity should help a ton here
  • What if he loses to Henderson? Well, he’s already lost twice to him so….
  • Khabib Nurmagomedov is likely next in line for a title shot after Rafael dos Anjos, so Cerrone might as well fight again instead of waiting on the sidelines since Cerrone has fought and defeated almost all of the other top lightweights except Henderson and Gilbert Melendez who just fought Pettis and lost.
  • Pettis starched Cerrone in their 2013 matchup, so it’s not like fans are dying for that fight again right now.

Some fans and pundits say Cerrone will hurt himself long term by doing things like this.  However, what people forget is that these fighters can only make money when they fight. He’ll be 32 years old in a couple of months and the window in which he’ll be able to compete at this level will not stay open much longer. Cerrone is at the point where he’s a fan favorite and people are going to tune in to watch him fight every time because he brings it every single time. A loss isn’t going to deter fans from wanting to watch him fight, just go back to the TKO loss to Anthony Pettis in 2013.

I know I’ll be watching when he fights Ben Henderson at UFC Fight Night 59 on January 18th, and odds are most of you reading this will as well.

Do you agree or disagree on this being a smart move by Cerrone to fight Henderson on such short notice?

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