Cowboy returns to Canada to face KO Artist Gaetje

No. 4 ranked UFC® lightweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone faces current no. 5 Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje in the main event of the evening.  This bout will mark the fifth time “Cowboy” has fought in Canada, having won all four of his previous contests in the country.  “Cowboy” who trains at BMF Ranch, a custom-made training facility he built himself, has had the most finishes (16), wins (23) and post-fight bonuses (18) in UFC history, winning in 3 of his last 4 appearances inside the Octagon®.

His opponent Gaethje, however, enters the bout on a two-fight win streak and took just over four minutes combined to defeat both Edson Barboza and James Vick.  “The Highlight” will be hoping a victory over a UFC veteran in “Cowboy” will propel him back into title fight conversations.

Ukrainian Nikita Krylov, who is currently ranked as the no. 9 UFC light heavyweight, faces fellow ranked contender Glover Teixeira (no. 13) in Saturday’s co-main event.  Known for his striking ability and relentless offence, “The Miner” is somewhat of a dual threat, with 15 wins by submission and 11 by KO.  Astonishingly, 9 of his 26 career finishes have come inside the first minute of Round 1.  He faces a tough opponent, however, in UFC veteran Glover Teixeira, who once competed for the title against the legendary Jon Jones.  Whilst Krylov is 12 years younger than Texeira, it will be interesting to see whether Krylov’s relative youth or Teixeira’s experience will prevail.

2 other European born fighters are also in action this weekend in Vancouver.  On the main card, Latvian light heavyweight Misha Cirkunov will make it 10 wins in 13 with a victory over Jimmy Crute, who is currently unbeaten in his professional MMA career.  Poland-born heavyweight Marcin Tybura, who has won 4 of his last 7, will also take on Augusto Sakai, who has lost just once in his career to date.

Tune in to watch all the action live as it unfolds this weekend.

Main Card

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje

Glover Teixeira vs. Nikita “The Miner” Krylov

Todd Duffee vs. Jeff “Lights Out” Hughes

Michel “Demolidor” Pereira vs. Tristan “Boondock” Connelly

Uriah “Prime Time” Hall vs. Antonio “Cara de Sapato” Carlos Junior

Misha Cirkunov vs. Jimmy Crute

Prelims

Marcin “Tybur” Tybura vs. Augusto Sakai

Cole “The Cole Train” Smith vs. Miles “Chapo” Johns

Brad “Superman” Katona vs. Hunter Azure

Chas “The Scrapper” Skelly vs. Jordan “Native Psycho” Griffin

Louis “Da Last Samurai” Smolka vs. Ryan “Main Event” MacDonald

Kyle “Killshot” Prepolec vs. Austin “Thud” Hubbard