The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 151: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy
Let’s not beat around the bush: UFC Fight Night 151 was not a good show by anyone’s standards. The main event – Donald Cerrone vs. Al Iaquinta – was fantastic as pretty much everyone expected going in, and it was enough to essentially save the show. But before that we got a bunch of fights that ranged from average to mind-numbing.
I don’t think you can necessarily criticise the UFC for this one; realistically the fights on tap actually sounded pretty good on paper and just didn’t deliver, which happens sometimes. But for me this was probably the worst Fight Night show of 2019 and it’ll definitely be one to forget going forward.
Here are the best and worst moments of UFC Fight Night 151: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy.
#1 Best: Cerrone delivers the goods again
Just when this was looking like one of the all-time forgettable UFC shows, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone stepped up again to save the day.
There have been plenty of exciting fighters in the UFC over the years – Diego Sanchez, Carlos Condit and Robbie Lawler all come to mind as fighters who usually deliver the goods each and every time – but at this stage, with a ludicrous 23 UFC wins and 16 finishes under his belt, Cerrone has to be considered the most entertaining man to ever set foot inside the Octagon.
Last night he absolutely tore Al Iaquinta apart over 5 rounds; Iaquinta hung tough and managed to last the distance, but outside of a decent second round the fight was all Cerrone, who chewed the New Yorker’s leg up with his low kicks, busted him up badly with his long, rangy punches, and knocked him down in the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds.
Iaquinta didn’t look bad in this fight, but there was no doubt that he was outclassed by Cerrone.
Should this earn Cerrone a title shot, against the winner of the upcoming Khabib Nurmagomedov-Dustin Poirier clash? I’d actually say yes; assuming Tony Ferguson is out for a while yet, nobody else is more deserving when you consider Iaquinta was coming off a win over Kevin Lee and took Khabib the distance a year ago.
Whether the UFC goes that way is anyone’s guess but there’s no disputing that his performance was by far the best thing on this show.