UFC 131 Fight Card: What Vagner Rocha Must Do To Beat Donald Cerrone

There's not a whole lot to say about Vagner Rocha (6-1-0 MMA) as he heads into this fight tomorrow night against WEC Veteran and perennial "Fight of The Night" bonus-seeker Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, aside from the fact that he has some good Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but is it possible that the fact that we know little about him might just be enough to think that maybe he can actually beat Cerrone?

It's MMA, so of course it's possible.

Some people have no faith in Rocha because all they know is that he's 6-1-0 professionally and that he's got some Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which might be a bit unfair of a basis to make the claim that he can't beat Cerrone, but then again, Thiago Tavares is predominantly a jiu-jitsu fighter, and he went undefeated for a time.

Rocha can achieve success against Cerrone, but the key for him to beat Cerrone is a striking game.

Cerrone believes that this fight is going to be controlled by him due to his stand-up prowess, something which he adamantly feels Rocha will not have, so what better way of throwing Cerrone off than by showing some improved striking and actually trying to end the fight on the feet?

If it doesn't lead to a KO or a stoppage, Rocha can at least use it to set up his takedowns and work his jiu-jitsu game, but he better take caution when doing so, because Cerrone is one of those guys who does have a good game from off his back.

It'll take a great Wrestling game—not a good one, a GREAT wrestling game—to neutralize the jits of Cerrone, and unless Rocha has that, his best bet will have to be keeping it on the feet and trying to throw Cerrone off as much as he can.

If he can mix it up and make Cerrone wonder where he's coming from, we could be seeing a big upset in MMA come tomorrow night.