UFC Ottawa: Al Iaquinta vs Donald Cerrone should be a classic : Ragin Al and Cowboy will put on a show

Last Updated : 2nd May, 2019 By Peter Roberts

VENUE

Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa

TIME

1am UK time, Sunday 5 May

BROADCAST

Live on BT Sport 1

See Stats

We appear to have entertainment absolutely guaranteed on Saturday night as Al Iaquinta takes on Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in the main event of UFC Ottawa.

The lightweight scrap between two fan favourites will almost certainly see these two talented grapplers give their ground game a miss and trade blows on the feet to the delight of the Canadian crowd.

Both ‘Ragin Al’ and ‘Cowboy’ are high-level jiu-jitsu practitioners, Iaquiinta with a purple belt in BJJ and Cerrone with a black belt. However, they both love to stand and bang, Al with his heavy hands and Cowboy with unleashing head kicks that can knock any opponent out.

This is not only a fun fight, sure to get the fans on their feet in the Canadian capital, it also has huge implications in the lightweight title picture.

It is not quite a number one contender match, but the winner will be right in the mix for a shot at the 155lb gold either at the end of this year or certainly in 2020. Finish the fight impressively and the winner could align themselves to face the victor of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Dustin Poirier in September, or at least they would be just one more win away from a crack at the strap.

The bookmakers are struggling to separate these two, but the consensus is that Iaquinta is the marginal favourite. The New Yorker is just barely odds-on, with a best price of 4/5 with William Hill, with Cerrone just behind at 11/10 with Paddy Power.

That seems fair seen as Iaquinta has won six of his last seven fights while Cowboy has won just three of his last seven. Granted Cerrone was fighting most of those bouts at welterweight and against sterner competition, but the form book is written in Al’s favour.

MMA math rarely adds up, but both men have fought Jorge Masvidal in that seven-fight stretch and Iaquinta won a decision while Cerrone was sparked in the second round by Gamebred.

Ragin Al’s only defeat in the last five years came against Khabib and after the Dagestani failed to finish him, it is difficult to see how any fighter could at lightweight. Iaquinta has never been knocked out and while he has suffered submission losses before, he is vastly improved since then, as his performance against Khabib showed.

Cerrone was something of a knockout candidate at welterweight but much less so at lightweight so this one is likely to go the distance. Both will be scrapping, throwing and coming forward for five hard rounds, but the younger man with less miles on the clock has the edge in this respect, and that is Iaquinta.

It will be non-stop action, it will be bloody and there will be a frenetic end, but Iaquinta will get his hand raised at the end of 25 minutes.

Al Iaquinta to win by decision at 7/2 with BoyleSports