UFC 141: Top 5 Donald Cerrone Performances Under the Zuffa Brand

Donald “The Cowboy” Cerrone is undefeated in the UFC and with 2011 being the biggest year in his MMA career, it’s only fitting to take a look back at the five best performances of his WEC and UFC careers.

To sum up Cerrone’s career under the Zuffa brands, I’d have to use the word entertaining and that’s just what you can expect from Cerrone when he throws down with Nate Diaz at UFC 141 in the co main event.

Cerrone made his debut in the UFC in February and won all four of his UFC fights this year. His popularity has grown with brilliant UFC performances, but the hardcore fans already knew how much potential he had from his performances in WEC.

Whether he was throwing down with Rob McCullough, Jamie Varner or Ben Henderson, it was clear that Cerrone had the skills to become a future contender, and he's proving just that in the UFC today.

These are the top five performances of Cerrone’s career in Zuffa.

5. Ed Ratcliff

Cerrone fought Ed Ratcliff in the main event back in 2009 and he turned in quite an impressive performance.

Cerrone went in there against a dangerous kickboxer and got the better of the stand-up for two rounds. In the third, Cerrone showed off his strong Jiu-Jitsu skills and tied Ratcliff up and eventually sank in the rear-naked choke.

It was another exciting fight by the Cowboy, and in the WEC that was common-place.

4. Ben Henderson

This was Donald Cerrone’s most entertaining fight in his MMA career, and it was a fight that tested his skill and his will.

Henderson got the nod on the razor-thin decision, but that doesn’t take anything away from Cerrone’s performance.

Cerrone showed off his brilliant submission skills, but MMA fans know that tapping Henderson is nearly impossible.

The first round could have gone either way and the second and third rounds were all Henderson.

Cerrone showed his heart as he willed his way back into the fight and won the last two rounds. Henderson was awarded the unanimous decision 48-47, but Cerrone showed he’s more than capable of hanging with the elite in the division.

3. Jamie Varner 2

There’s no doubt in my mind that this had to be the sweetest of victories for Cerrone.

Cerrone’s arch nemesis in his MMA career has to be Jamie Varner. At WEC 38, Cerrone lost a title fight to Varner because of an illegal knee Cerrone threw and Varner said he couldn’t continue.

This brought on a lot of trash-talking and hatred between the two with some of the subtleties Cerrone tossed at Varner pretty much questioning his manhood.

The reason I was so impressed with Cerrone’s second fight against Varner was because he weathered those emotions and went in and out-wrestled Varner.

Cerrone delivered some nice striking and controlled the wrestling throughout the fight which was a big shocker considering the fact that Varner is an accomplished wrestler.

This win over Varner started Cerrone’s current six-fight winning streak and proved that he was a well-rounded fighter.

2. Charles Oliveira

Cerrone’s first-round TKO against Charles Oliveira was a statement to the entire lightweight division.

Oliveira is a dangerous fighter with good striking and great submission skills, but that didn’t matter when he stepped inside the Octagon against Cerrone.

This was Cerrone’s third UFC fight, and it wasn’t even close. Cerrone dropped him with a beautiful knee and swarmed him with some vicious ground-and-pound.

This setup was Cowboy’s best performance inside the Octagon at UFC 137.

1. Dennis Siver

The fight against Oliveira may have put the entire lightweight division on notice, but Cerrone’s fight with Dennis Siver made him an instant contender.

Cerrone said before the fight with Siver that he was going to show him what true kickboxing was all about and Cowboy did just that.

Cerrone caught him early with a beautiful high kick following a great faint. The faint dropped Siver’s right hand and exposed his head for Cerrone's head kick.

Cerrone rocked him again and finished him off in the first round with a rear-naked choke. It was a fantastic performance, and all signs point to more show-stopping performances in the future.

Cerrone is improving with every fight, so Diaz better be ready for the best Cowboy yet Friday.