The Film Room: Donald Cerrone
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MMA pioneer Donald Cerrone headlines his seventh Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Saturday, when he takes on Al Iaquinta in the UFC Fight Night 151 headliner at the Canadian Tire Centre in on Ottawa, Ontario. It marks Cerrone’s 31st appearance inside the Octagon, where he will attempt to add to his records for most wins and finishes.
“Cowboy” supplies the material for this installment of The Film
Room.
Cerrone began his career in kickboxing and muay Thai before moving to mixed martial arts, and the techniques and tactics he learned from those early days remain prevalent in his style today. His stance and striking tendencies resemble a high-level nak muay, and he is dangerous with his hands and feet, as well as on the ground. When working on the lead, Cerrone prefers to strike in long combos and appears to be as comfortable as anybody trading in the pocket. Like any muay Thai-based fighter, he loves to start and end combinations with kicks, which have set up some of the best knockouts of his career. In his leading attacks, he rarely overextends on punches and puts himself out of position to defend. He will occasionally get overzealous and cross his feet while walking forward with combos, but overall, he is tactical and patient.
With 46 total fights under his belt, “Cowboy” is one of the most experienced fighters on the roster, and at 35 years of age, he is still one of the smartest and trickiest athletes in all of mixed martial arts. His leading attacks garner all the attention, but with this much experience, he is also adept on the counter. Just like his leading attacks, Cerrone likes to counter with long exchanges in the pocket. Keep an eye on his counter leg kicks. While they are almost exclusively used on the lead in MMA, leg kicks are often used on the counter in muay Thai.
Something else “Cowboy” uses from his muay Thai days are intercepting knees to the body. Intercepting knees are not used nearly enough in MMA, but they are the perfect counters for aggressive opponents who like to headhunt. All Cerrone has to do is raise his knee upwards and let the opponent run into it.
Cerrone’s ability to fight effectively on the feet and on the ground makes him one of the most dynamic offensive competitors of all-time. Seventeen of his 34 career wins have resulted in submissions, nearly doubling his number of knockouts (nine). He generally only relies on his grappling when he fails to get the job done on the feet, but with Iaquinta’s history of struggling with grapplers, it would not be surprising to see “Cowboy” shoot for early takedowns.
Like every fighter who enters the cage, “Cowboy” has his imperfections. He is good at staying defensively responsible when working on the lead and not leaving himself open for counters, but he historically struggles with pushy opponents who force him to work off of his back foot. This could spell trouble for him against Iaquinta, who can be quite aggressive and is adept at mixing in counters with his leading attacks.
MMA pioneer Donald Cerrone headlines his seventh Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Saturday, when he takes on Al Iaquinta in the UFC Fight Night 151 headliner at the Canadian Tire Centre in on Ottawa, Ontario. It marks Cerrone’s 31st appearance inside the Octagon, where he will attempt to add to his records for most wins and finishes.
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Although Cerrone’s combination against Rick Story
gets all the attention, his best sequence may have come against
Matt
Brown with a lead-leg pendulum kick to the head. It is not
quite as fun and flashy, but the knockout shows his intelligence as
a fighter. Reading reactions and knowing how to exploit them is one
of the most important aspects of combat sports, and it often goes
unnoticed. With 12 years of professional experience, “Cowboy” has
become adept at studying opponents before and during the fight and
knowing how they react to certain strikes and positions. Against
Brown, Cerrone was routinely looking for the lead-leg pendulum kick
setup with a jab. Each time, Brown attempted to parry the jab and
ate the kick cleanly. Finally, “Cowboy” feinted the jab, caused
Brown to throw one of his own and countered with the same kick he
had been throwing the entire fight. Throwing the same technique
over and over again generally does not work, but when you can set
traps for your opponents and manipulate their reactions, you can
have success.
Cerrone began his career in kickboxing and muay Thai before moving to mixed martial arts, and the techniques and tactics he learned from those early days remain prevalent in his style today. His stance and striking tendencies resemble a high-level nak muay, and he is dangerous with his hands and feet, as well as on the ground. When working on the lead, Cerrone prefers to strike in long combos and appears to be as comfortable as anybody trading in the pocket. Like any muay Thai-based fighter, he loves to start and end combinations with kicks, which have set up some of the best knockouts of his career. In his leading attacks, he rarely overextends on punches and puts himself out of position to defend. He will occasionally get overzealous and cross his feet while walking forward with combos, but overall, he is tactical and patient.
With 46 total fights under his belt, “Cowboy” is one of the most experienced fighters on the roster, and at 35 years of age, he is still one of the smartest and trickiest athletes in all of mixed martial arts. His leading attacks garner all the attention, but with this much experience, he is also adept on the counter. Just like his leading attacks, Cerrone likes to counter with long exchanges in the pocket. Keep an eye on his counter leg kicks. While they are almost exclusively used on the lead in MMA, leg kicks are often used on the counter in muay Thai.
Something else “Cowboy” uses from his muay Thai days are intercepting knees to the body. Intercepting knees are not used nearly enough in MMA, but they are the perfect counters for aggressive opponents who like to headhunt. All Cerrone has to do is raise his knee upwards and let the opponent run into it.
Cerrone’s ability to fight effectively on the feet and on the ground makes him one of the most dynamic offensive competitors of all-time. Seventeen of his 34 career wins have resulted in submissions, nearly doubling his number of knockouts (nine). He generally only relies on his grappling when he fails to get the job done on the feet, but with Iaquinta’s history of struggling with grapplers, it would not be surprising to see “Cowboy” shoot for early takedowns.
Like every fighter who enters the cage, “Cowboy” has his imperfections. He is good at staying defensively responsible when working on the lead and not leaving himself open for counters, but he historically struggles with pushy opponents who force him to work off of his back foot. This could spell trouble for him against Iaquinta, who can be quite aggressive and is adept at mixing in counters with his leading attacks.
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