It’s no secret that Donald Cerrone wants to fight as much as possible. The last time “Cowboy” had less than four fights in a year was back in 2012. That mentality may have cost him last night (Jan. 28) against Jorge Masvidal.
Despite fighting just last month, Cerrone was right back in there at UFC on FOX 23. It’s not like his last bout was a cakewalk either. He had two tough rounds against Matt Brown before putting him away with a head kick in the third round.
Masvidal also fought just last month. The difference is, the damage he sustained in his fight with Jake Ellenberger was minimum at worst. Once Ellenberger’s foot was trapped between the canvas and the cage, “Gamebred” teed off for the TKO win.
Last night was a one-sided beatdown in favor of Masvidal. After cracking Cerrone at the end of the first round, it appeared “Gamebred” had won the fight by stoppage. Instead, referee Herb Dean let the fight go to the second round despite stepping in just before the horn sounded.
The fight was stopped early in the second round. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White told the media (via MMAFighting.com) that he doesn’t necessarily think Dean’s error was egregious:
“I picked up the phone and called production and said, ‘was that correct, was it the end of the round?’ It wasn’t. It wasn’t the end of the round, [Dean] stopped it early. But, not to defend Herb Dean, it was so loud in that arena I didn’t hear it either. Maybe you guys heard it, that you were sitting closer to it, but I didn’t hear it.”
White said he wasn’t a big fan of Cerrone stepping back inside the Octagon so quickly.
“It is what it is. Mistakes are going to happen and it’s one of those…listen, I hate when ‘Cowboy’ does this. You know, he’s got four wins at welterweight and he wants to fight back-to-back like this, but that’s who this kid is. That’s what he wants to do, it is what it is.”
