A high-stakes lightweight fight between Donald Cerrone and Justin Gaethje will headline UFC on ESPN+ 16 in September.
MMA Junkie today confirmed with a person close to the situation that “Cowboy” (36-12 MMA, 23-9 UFC) and Gaethje (20-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will clash on the upcoming card after UFC President Dana White announced the matchup to Yahoo! Sports.
UFC on ESPN+ 16 takes place Sept. 14 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The entire card streams on ESPN+.
Cerrone, No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA lightweight rankings, will be the first fighter to make four octagon appearances this year. The 36-year-old is the UFC’s all-time wins leaders, and after stating his intentions for 155-pound gold with wins over Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta, Cerrone suffered a setback against Tony Ferguson at UFC 238 in June.
Now he will try to rebound against No. 6-ranked Gaethje, who is considered by many to be the most exciting fighter in the sport. The former WSOF champion has had mixed results in the UFC, but he has picked up a post-fight bonus in each of his octagon appearances, with his most recent coming in a first-round knockout of Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 2 in March.
The latest UFC on ESPN+ 16 lineup includes:
- Donald Cerrone vs. Justin Gaethje
- Nikita Krylov vs. Glover Teixeira
- David Branch vs. Andrew Sanchez
- Todd Duffee vs. Jeff Hughes
- Augusto Sakai vs. Marcin Tybura
- Misha Cirkunov vs. Jim Crute
- Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Uriah Hall
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 16, check out the UFC Schedule.
