Did cerrone really improved(can he beat top 3 guys)?

[Moneymma]

Or was this streak the same as the one b4 nate diaz fight?
He beats good guys,but cant get past the division elite or he really made some changes


Cowboy is really wellrounded fighter with great kicks,knees,punches,wrestling and bjj
If you give him any space(if you let him dictate the pace) it will be a long night for you,BUT if you pressure him he breaks(or did so in the past),his lack of head movement make him easy to hit and he looks slow and lost in there.
He doesnt study his opponents and that is bad thing(if he studied ben he would know ben's wrestling is not that good and cerrone would trow more kicks/wouldnt be timid)

His past problems with guys that pressure him makes me think about his chanse at beating top 3 or 4 guys
How would he deal with pressure and boxing of gil,footwork and kicks of pettis,RDA's speed advantage and khabib's wrestling and pressure?

None of his opponents really pushed the pace on him and that made him look good(well in most fights). Eddie and jury had speed and movement but they are counterstrikers and they let cerrone dictate the pace.
Best opponent for him could be khabib-if cerrone can deal with pressure of khabib,his elite tdd will make it hard for khabib to take him down and his striking will make khabibs look sloppy
Also i think he has solid chanse in rda rematch,but not confident in him beating gil and pettis
Thoughts?

 

[Yolandabecool**]

He hasn't improved enough to beat Pettis or Khabib. He may have got the decision over Bendo but you could also see that he was a step below Bendo with regards to skill level.

 

[CrimsonFan]

Well he is ranked higher than he's ever been so i'd say he's improved.

Hard to judge him too much from the Bendo fight.. it was like 2 weeks notice. And well, he won.


He can beat anyone. If he did win the belt I dont think he's got what it takes to be a long running champion though

 

[brikz]

if he studied ben he would know ben's wrestling is not that good and cerrone would trow more kicks/wouldnt be timid

So i guess the first two fights they had where Ben put him on his back over and over again weren't enough "studying"?

 

[Git rekt]

So i guess the first two fights they had where Ben put him on his back over and over again weren't enough "studying"?

Not to mention they are both best friends outside of the octagon, Didnt Cerrone go to bendos wedding or something like that? I honestly put it on bendo for not bringing it to the ground, actually think that cost him the fight when he should have been more confident with it based on his previous experiences

 

[Maladroit]

Yes, he's the unnoficial Bellator champion

 

[Codpiece]

Not to mention they are both best friends outside of the octagon, Didnt Cerrone go to bendos wedding or something like that? I honestly put it on bendo for not bringing it to the ground, actually think that cost him the fight when he should have been more confident with it based on his previous experiences

I put it on the judges. Bendo should maybe have tried going to the ground but he was having the better of it on the feet.

 

[Moneymma]

So i guess the first two fights they had where Ben put him on his back over and over again weren't enough "studying"?

I get it- fighter cant improve in 5 years and last person ben outwrestled was nate diaz. He got ragg dolled by josh and khabilov. Last 5 years ben outwrestled only miller,diaz and im not sure about guida but lets say he outwrestled him as well. Cerrones tdd is way better than it was in 2010

 

[Sir RaldoBabalu]

I don't think he's at that top level

 

[Git rekt]

i love cerrone and while im glad hes on a 7 fight winstreak i think that fight showed both of them arent ready for that level of competition yet. Cerrone in my opinion will always be the vegeta of his division. a step above the rest of the cast but falling just short of the top.

 

[Bmurray]

Don't think he'd get Pettis, and imo Bendo won. I think Edgar could give him problems if he came back up, in the same ways that Bendo does.

I think he could get RDA with another chance and I think he could get Khabib too.

Malendez would be an awesome fight that I hope they set up.

 

[MarkyMcFly]

I remember just a few short fights back...

"Cerrone can't beat a top 10 opponent, he chokes every time!!"

So, then it went to top 5, now it's down to top 2-3. Ok. When he beat's Khabib, people will still just blow him off for title contention and that may very well be the correct response. Who knows if he can beat Pettis after their first fight, but I sure as shit aint counting him out

 

[FEDORRULEZ]

he didnt really beat benson. i dont think he could ever be a chmpion

 

[Harlekin]

He had better head movement, tdd and footwork. He's definately sharper now and has more skills.
He still has problems to extend his punches and put his hip and shulder into it, though.

If he had thrown more kicks, his fight with Bendo would've been more than a draw in my eyes.

Won't beat Pettis and RDA. Khabib is a question mark right now.

He could easily avenge his loss to Diaz though. Leg kicking the shit out of him.

 

[Renzo Gracie NH]

I think he has improved but there are still maybe 4 or 5 guys better than him.

 

[Freddy Mercury]

Don't think he'd get Pettis, and imo Bendo won. I think Edgar could give him problems if he came back up, in the same ways that Bendo does.

I think he could get RDA with another chance and I think he could get Khabib too.

Malendez would be an awesome fight that I hope they set up.

Totally agree. Would love to see him fight Melendez and the UFC should go for it because Melendez costs them big money. They both deliver and are needle movers. The

 

[Moneymma]

I dont know why he doesnt work on his head movement and not being flat footed guy that plods forward,study pettis and his striking style. Also he shouldnt be afraid of tdwhen fights wrestlers like bendo,dunham,etc. His td it very high level and im sure he will stuff 90% of their td. He should use low and high kicks if he fights khabib. I hope he can catch him with his great knee coming in and make khabib hesitate. I would like to see khabib//pettis more but cerrone(with a good gameplan) could spoil that

 

[Moral Victory]

He's looking good, as long as he keeps focused and determined (can be hard with ADD)

 

[Mixed]

Yes. He did improved.

 

[FountOfWisdom]

he really made some changes

He has.

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/jack-slack-donald-cerrones-game-changer