Spokane’s Julianna Pena headlines Cowboy Cerrone’s homecoming when the UFC visits Denver
No fighter stays busy like Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, whether he’s locked inside the UFC cage or roaming the outdoor playground that is his life.
After completing a perfect 2016, Cerrone is expecting a welterweight title shot at some point in his next jam-packed year. He’ll start with an unfriendly showdown with Jorge Masvidal at the UFC event in Denver on Saturday night.
“I am so excited to fight at home,” said Cerrone, a Colorado native. “We’re going to blow the roof off this place on Saturday night. Home court, home turf, I don’t know what that means, but I feel like I have some kind of advantage. … I’ll probably take my time walking out of that tunnel, soak it all in.”
The bantamweight title eliminator between Spokane’s Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko headlines the card at the Pepsi Center, but there’s little doubt Cowboy is the biggest draw. Cerrone attended the Air Force Academy’s prep school and learned to ride bulls before realizing he was really good at punching people.
Cerrone (32-7) is in his ninth fight in just over two years, and he has lost only once in his last 13 bouts since August 2013. When he isn’t shooting guns, riding jet skis or skydiving, this Trump-supporting, fighters’-union-organizing hell-raiser who lives on a ranch in rural New Mexico drives to fights in his beloved RV.
By the way, Cerrone is going to give away 50 cases of Budweiser out of that RV to his fans after this fight.
Cerrone fights whenever UFC President Dana White will allow him in the cage to fund his busy lifestyle. After losing a lightweight title shot to Rafael Dos Anjos 15 months ago, he moved up to welterweight and racked up four straight stoppage victories last year.
He claims to be much more interested in cash than title belts, but he also realizes he’ll deserve a shot at Tyron Woodley’s 170-pound strap if he keeps racking up victories.
“(I’m) one away from a title, I hope,” Cerrone told reporters in Denver. “It’s going to happen this year. 2017 is the year. Next fight, two fights, three fights, we’ll just keep knocking them down `til we get it.”
Yet Cerrone already is jockeying for another in-between fight in Las Vegas on March 4 at UFC 209, which is headlined by Woodley’s rematch with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Masvidal (31-11) is a UFC veteran who has lost three of his last six fights, but all by painful split decision. He expressed a grudge against Cerrone during promotion for their bout, claiming the higher-profile Cowboy had been given highly ranked opponents meant for him in recent years due to injuries.
Cerrone reacted with a shrug.
“He’s a game dude, and he comes to fight,” Cerrone said. “He’s tough, and he’s going to bring it, but he just doesn’t have the skills to beat me.”
In the main event, Pena’s meeting with Shevchenko will introduce two up-and-coming 135-pounders to their biggest audiences yet. The winner is a prime candidate to become the next opponent for bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who defended her belt last month with a star-making stoppage of Rousey in 48 seconds at UFC 207.
Pena (9-2) has won four straight fights since joining the UFC, bouncing back from her December 2015 arrest for street fighting, with a renewed focus. She has threatened to quit the UFC if she doesn’t get the next shot at Nunes, but Shevchenko is a formidable obstacle.
“I think, 110 percent, the winner of this fight is getting a title shot,” Pena, who once broke her arm rather than quit, said. “No. 1 and (No.) 2 are going at it, and the winner definitely deserves a crack at the belt.”
Shevchenko (13-2) is a Kyrgyzstan-born kickboxer who lives and trains in Peru. She rose to prominence last July with her destruction of Holly Holm, and she isn’t impressed by Pena’s campaign for a shot at Nunes.
“I’ve fought with all kinds of opponents,” Shevchenko said. “Very loud opponents who speak too much, and it doesn’t help them at all, because in the octagon, in the ring, we have two hands, two legs, and this is it. I’m very confident in my power.”