UFC welterweight Donald Cerrone figures if he’s going to get a title shot in his new division, he might as well go for the most viable contender.
“What I think would make the most sense is Demian Maia – see if Demian is ready to fight Dec. 30 (at UFC 207),” Cerrone told our partners at Champions.co. “That’s who I want to fight. He’s probably the guys to fight next for the title. He’s just crushing everybody.”
Indeed, Maia (24-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) has reinvented himself after falling short of the middleweight title. After a pair of losses to Jake Shields and Rory MacDonald, he’s won six straight, putting him on the short list for a title shot – presuming, of course, that former champion Georges St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) doesn’t come out of retirement.
The No. 5 ranked welterweight in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, Maia would give a huge boost to No. 14 Cerrone, who moved from lightweight to welterweight after a failed bid for the former title.
“I feel like a lot of those people get scared of people when they’re good,” Cerrone said of the Brazilian submission specialist. “I like it.”
Cerrone (31-7 MMA, 18-4 UFC), who next fights Kelvin Gastelum (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) on Nov. 12 at UFC 205, reasons that Maia’s quick victory over onetime title challenger Carlos Condit shouldn’t keep him out of action for long.
And for “Cowboy,” there’s no such thing as too many fights.
“Hopefully he’ll hear this interview and be like, ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea ‘Cowboy. I’ll fight you Dec. 30,’” Cerrone said.
First thing’s first, though: Cerrone faces Gastelum on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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