UFC 249 Predictions: Anthony Pettis vs Donald Cerrone

Anthony Pettis vs Donald Cerrone, two veterans will collide on Saturday at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. What is the history behind these two, and who will take home the ‘W’? Here are the predictions for the main event of UFC 249 prelims.

This fight is seven years in the making. The first time these two fought, Anthony Pettis obliterated Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in the very first round. Pettis landed devastating body strikes on Cerrone to end the bout at 2:35. However, a lot has changed since their first meeting.

While Cerrone went on an impressive win streak after his loss to Pettis, Pettis witnessed numerous ups and downs in his career. But the level of competition each fighter has faced during that time also differs. Pettis has proved himself against some of the very best in the sport. Cowboy, on the other hand, has faced back to back losses many times.

As far as their last three bouts are concerned, both men don’t have much to boast about. Although Pettis has an impressive knockout over ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, he is coming off a two-fight losing streak over Nate Diaz and Carlos Diego Ferreira.

Cerrone is even worse! All of his last three fights ended in brutal stoppages. First, it was Tony Ferguson, followed by Justin Gaethje, and the recent whitewash by Conor McGregor.

UFC 249: Donald Cerrone vs Anthony Pettis – The Verdict

At this point in his career, we don’t know the mental state of Cerrone. Although he did say that he got psychological help from professionals, his state of mind is a big question mark. Is he hungry to win? Well, it doesn’t seem like that.

In a recent interview with Brett Okamoto, he said that he is doing it only for the money. Since Pettis defeated Cerrone in their first encounter, he will have the mental edge over Cerrone.

Striking wise, both men are really good strikers and that’s where the fight will take place for the majority of the bout. Pettis has the taekwondo style, whereas Cerrone is a Muay Thai fighter. Pettis will have a slight advantage in the striking department. He is also way more unpredictable than Cerrone. Cowboy has to watch out for those kicks to the body.

On the ground, Cowboy might be more dangerous than Pettis. But Pettis has a good submission defense, even though he got submitted in his last fight.

Prediction: Anthony Pettis (via KO/TKO, Round 2)

The rest of the Preliminary Card