UFC Singapore: 5 Keys to Victory for Donald Cerrone

SINGAPORE - JUNE 20: Donald Cerrone of United States participates in the UFC Fight Night Open Workout at OCBC Square on June 20, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah - Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC)
SINGAPORE - JUNE 20: Donald Cerrone of United States participates in the UFC Fight Night Open Workout at OCBC Square on June 20, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah - Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC) /
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On the verge of his 28th UFC bout, and possibly his 21st win, Donald Cerrone continues to build on his legacy as one of the most respected fighters in MMA. He takes on up and coming to Jamaican Welterweight Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC Singapore.

The UFC’s resident Cowboy, Donald Cerrone, has had a long and successful career over which he has become a fan favorite, and has proved to be one of the most lethal fighters in all of MMA. While his career began over twelve years ago, the Albuquerque based fighter still seems like he could keep going at blistering pace. This Saturday, at UFC Singapore, Cerrone takes on thirteenth ranked welterweight Leon Edwards in an explosive bout.

Coming off only one win in his last four fights, Cerrone may not have all the momentum in the world. However in 2018 at least, Cerrone is riding an impressive TKO victory over a dangerous welterweight in Yancy Medeiros. With a nine-year, age gap between himself and Leon Edwards, it may seem that Cerrone will be outmatched by youth. But considering that Cerrone is second on the list for Performance of the Night Bonuses, everybody should be wary when facing the cowboy.

Will Cerrone take the W and gain the all-time record for UFC wins? Will he be outmatched by Leon Edwards? Cerrone has every tool in the book to beat anybody in a fight, but he faces an equally well rounded mixed martial artist, and he will have to invoke these five keys to victory in order to break that record!

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – APRIL 29: Donald Cerrone participates in an open workout on April 29, 2018 in Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Zuffa LLC)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – APRIL 29: Donald Cerrone participates in an open workout on April 29, 2018 in Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Zuffa LLC) /

5. Rely on his striking base

Of his thirty-three UFC wins, nine have come by knockout and more importantly, a large part of Cerrone’s offense comes in the form of high level striking. Before transitioning to MMA full-time, Cerrone cultivated an undefeated kickboxing record with twenty-eight victories. Cerrone has shown off some amazing striking during his career and has taken out well-respected brawlers like Edson Barboza, Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens.

Just in his recent run at middleweight, Cerrone used his superb kickboxing to garner four straight finishes, including two performances of the night. While Leon Edwards may be a well rounded and completely trained fighter, he will have a large deficit in striking experience to the storied kickboxer in Cerrone.

In order to win on Saturday, Cerrone will need to outsmart Edwards, and his wealth of striking knowledge is a solid start. One only needs to look to Cerrone’s Super Saiyan like assassination of Rick Story to realize that no matter how skilled Edwards is, he is always under threat of TKO by the Cowboy.