Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight contenders Myles Jury and Donald Cerrone battled for a potential title shot last night (Sat., Jan. 3, 2015) at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jury quietly put together a hell of an undefeated run heading into his bout with Cerrone. Known for his well-rounded game and excellent ability to follow a game plan, some thought that Jury was the perfect foil to the promotion's crazy "Cowboy."
After a mediocre 2013, Cerrone stormed back into title contention last year with a series of quality finishes over top competition. Were he to defeat Jury, Cerrone would likely earn another shot at lightweight strap-hanger Anthony Pettis.
He definitely put forth a compelling argument.
Jury immediately landed a takedown to start the bout, but Cerrone transitioned into an omoplata. It took a minute or so, but Cerrone secured the sweep from that position. He then quickly moved into the back mount and locked up a body triangle.
Despite spending much of the round in a terrible position, Jury defended himself very well. "Cowboy" nearly locked in the rear naked choke with about a minute left, but Jury managed to barely scrape the top hand off and relieve the pressure. In short, Cerrone dominated the round, but Jury's defense allowed him to survive into the second.
Unlike the first, the second round was spent entirely on the feet. Though Jury looked to catch each of Cerrone's kicks and turn them into takedowns, he was not able to finish any. However, he did make Cerrone hesitate with his kicks a bit more than usual.
With all that said, Cerrone was still able to land some hard kicks. For the most part, he stuck to low kicks, but he also landed a sharp step knee to the body. Jury had his moments, but "Cowboy" definitely took the second round.
Cerrone continued to work his kickboxing in the final frame. At one point, Cerrone landed a cracking high kick, but "Fury" absorbed it well. Still, it took quite a bit of steam of Jury's sails, as Cerrone was able to land his strikes more frequently after the head kick landed.
"Cowboy" remained the aggressor with about a minute left, as Jury hurriedly circled away from the Muay Thai specialist. Every so often, Jury would attempt to shoot, but Cerrone defended very well.
To put a cap on his performance, Cerrone landed a double leg of his own. While standing above his foe, Cerrone landed some brutal kicks to the thigh, really turning into the kicks.
Once again, Cerrone put on an excellent performance. His grappling was on point in the first, and Cerrone put a harsh beating on Jury with his kickboxing in the final two rounds. "Cowboy" was definitely fighting with a bit of anger behind his strikes, as he really tore into his foe.
At this point, Cerrone deserves a title shot. However, Khabib Nurmagomedov does as well. In all likelihood, that means these two are set to collide in what will be a phenomenal fight.
This bout came too early for Myles Jury. He fought a very smart game plan that revolved around taking away his opponent's best technique, the low kick. Had he been able to control top position in the first round, it may have worked much better.
Jury also did a fantastic job avoiding the step knee. Each of Cerrone's recent opponents that have attempted takedowns often have ran into a knee, which sapped them badly. Jury shot numerous times but set the shots up well enough to stay safe.
While the young fighter may have lost, it's not necessarily a bad thing, and I expect Jury to come out a bit better in each area for his next bout. For such an occasion, Rustam Khabilov would be an interesting opponent if he gets his visa issues in order.
Ar UFC 182, "Cowboy" Cerrone continued to push forward on his current hot streak. Can the kickboxer earn a title shot in the UFC's most crowded division?
For complete UFC 182 "Jones vs Cormier" results and play-by-play, click HERE.