A lightweight bout between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Nate Diaz will serve as the co-main event of UFC 141: “Lesnar vs Overeem” on December 30th in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMAjunkie.com first reported on the fight on Sunday evening and UFC officials confirmed the planned bout today.
Also announced for the card was a pair of featherweight matchups. Former top contender Diego “The Gun” Nunes battles one-time WEC title challenger Manny “The Anvil” Gamburyan. Junior Assuncao looks for his third victory of 2011 when he welcomes Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson to 145 pounds.
Cerrone (17-3-0, 1 NC) has won six straight fights, with four of those coming in UFC bouts this year. The former two-time WEC lightweight title challenger picked up the first TKO win of his career in August when he dismantled Charles “do Bronx” Oliveira and followed that up with a first-round submission of Dennis Siver this past weekend at UFC 137. Cerrone battered Siver with strikes before securing a rear-naked choke for the victory.
Diaz (14-7-0) has split his time between the lightweight and welterweight divisions and has found mixed success in both. After posting wins in just three of eight UFC fights over a two-year span, Diaz looked to be one defeat away from relegation to the undercards. However, at UFC 135 in September, Diaz put on one of the most impressive performances of his career in outstriking and eventually submitting long-time PRIDE ace Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi.
Nunes (16-2-0) and Gamburyan (11-6-0), both imports from the former WEC featherweight division, are coming off of defeats in their most recent Octagon appearances. Nunes debuted in the UFC with a big win over ex-WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown, but dropped a decision to Kenny “KenFlo” Florian at UFC 131. Gamburyan needs an impressive win after back-to-back setbacks against current UFC champ José “Scarface” Aldo and Tyson Griffin, but had won three straight before that.
Assuncao (13-4-0) and Pearson (12-5-0) will square off after feuding on Twitter. Assuncao was victorious in his return to the Octagon at UFC 135 following a four-year absence from the promotion. Pearson’s campaign as a lightweight was highlighted by a big victory over Dennis Siver in March 2010, but he has dropped two of three fights since. He now moves down to the featherweight division and matches his striking skills against Assuncao’s jiu-jitsu.
UFC 141: “Lesnar vs Overeem” takes place on December 30th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between former UFC champion Brock Lesnar and former Strikeforce titleholder Alistair Overeem.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)