[RANK5=John Hyon Ko] A welterweight bout between Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Leon Edwards has been booked to main event UFC Fight Night 132 in Singapore on June 23.
After much speculation, the UFC officially announced this matchup during its 25th Anniversary Press Conference in New York City.
Cerrone, the 35-year-old former lightweight title-challenger, moved up to welterweight in early 2016 after much success in the lightweight division and reeled off 4 straight while finishing some of the best veterans of the division.
Yet, when he ran into the top contenders, he dropped three in a row against the likes of Robbie Lawler and Jorge Masvidal. "Cowboy", however, got back to his winning ways last February at UFC Austin by starching Hawaiian brawler Yancy Mederios in the first round.
His opponent, Leon Edwards, has quietly put together a five-fight winning streak. Since joining the organization in 2014, "Rocky" has beaten the breaks off of Albert Tumenov, Seth Baczynski, Peter Sobotta, and Bryan Barberena.
While the Brit will be criticized for getting this fight against a marquee name, there is no doubt that he has earned his spot on this card. This is a huge opportunity for Edwards, at the same time, a gigantic risk for Cerrone.
In addition to this headliner, other matchups that have been announced are Jessica-Rose Clark versus Jessica Eye, Nadia Kassem versus Xiaonan Yan, and Ashkan Mokhtarian versus Jenel Lausa.
고현 jhkmma@gmail.com
