Former UFC champion has perfect ideas for Donald Cerrone’s return fight

It’s become clear that nothing can stop Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone from returning to the UFC.

Cerrone would like to have two more fights under the UFC banner to reach 50 total fights, and former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes he has the perfect opponent for Cerrone.

“The only matchup I think most people would agree on would be a rematch with Tony Ferguson, if he hasn’t retired yet,” Bisping said on the “Believe You Me” podcast.

I have the same suggestion for Cerrone’s return, and former lightweight contender Paul Felder agrees.

“Yeah, but it has to be at least 170, right? That might make sense,” Felder said. “And that’s the kind of guy you lost to him all those years ago. Tony’s in a really bad situation. It’s been a really bad slide for a really, really long time. I don’t think the UFC really even wants to fight him. There are two people who aren’t there, so what better way to get them to have a contractual match than to give it to them?”

Ferguson defeated Cerrone in June 2018 at UFC 238 in Chicago. This was the last time Ferguson won a match. Both Cerrone and Ferguson are long past their prime. Most fans believe Ferguson should retire and Cerrone, who is already a Hall of Famer, should remain retired.

UFC President Dana White has stated multiple times that he wants to see Ferguson retire. Coach White also expressed disapproval of Cerrone’s return. Something tells me nothing can stop either man from climbing into the Octagon again.

Ferguson hinted at a 2025 matchup on social media Thursday. Is it possible that preliminary talks have already taken place for a rematch with Cerrone? I wouldn’t call it madness.

If that happens, I predict this fight will be featured as the main card of a future pay-per-view, or even the main event of a summer Fight Night card.

In addition to talk of a Ferguson vs. Cerrone rematch, UFC fight news in the new year is very busy.

As Almabaev, ranked No. 8 in the flyweight division, will face No. 9 Steve Erceg on March 1st. Ali Abdelaziz, manager of former bantamweight and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo, said his client will likely return to the Octagon in February or March, competing at 135 pounds.

Several other bouts were announced just before the new year, including middleweights Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pifer and Calvin Kattar vs. Yusef Zalal.

Events scheduled for the first quarter of this year are progressing well. The first fight on record will take place on January 11th at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Here is the complete card:

Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Rivas – strawweight Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris – welterweight Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cesar Almeida – middleweight Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov – middleweight Austin Basi vs. Christian Rodriguez – Featherweight Punajele Soriano vs. Uroš Medici – Welterweight Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes – Flyweight Marco Tullio vs. Ihor Potieria – Middleweight Thiago Moises vs. Trey Ogden – Lightweight Andreas Gustafsson vs. Preston Parsons – Welterweight Ernesta Kalekaite vs. Nicole Cagliari – Flyweight Magomed Gaziyaslov vs. Bruno Lopez – Light Heavyweight Viktoria Dudakova vs. Fatima Klein – Strawweight Nurlo Aliyev vs. Yanar Ashmuth – Lightweight