Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone are booked to compete in a wrestling match at RAF 15. The pairing marks a crossover appearance for two of MMA's most recognizable veterans.
Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone are set to meet in a wrestling match at RAF 15, putting two of MMA's best-known veterans on the mat together in a crossover booking away from the cage.
Pettis, a former UFC lightweight champion, is 39 and holds a professional MMA record of 24-10-0. The Roufusport product from the United States is an orthodox fighter who stands five-foot-ten with a 72-inch reach. He lands 3.05 significant strikes per minute at 47 percent accuracy, and averages 0.61 takedowns per 15 minutes along with 1.1 submission attempts.
Cerrone, 43, brings a 36-17-0 record into the booking. Known as "Cowboy" and representing BMF Ranch, the American is an orthodox fighter listed at six-foot-one with a 73-inch reach. His striking numbers are the busier of the two, at 4.41 significant strikes landed per minute with 46 percent accuracy. On the grappling side, he averages 1.16 takedowns and 1.2 submission attempts per 15 minutes, both slightly ahead of Pettis.
Those grappling averages offer a loose point of comparison, though a wrestling match is a different discipline from the MMA bouts those figures come from. Both men are being matched under a ruleset that strips away striking, which makes the pairing more about technique and familiarity than about their usual fight styles.
Why it matters
- It reunites two of the most recognizable names from the UFC lightweight division of the 2010s in a new format.
- Cerrone holds a modest edge in takedown and submission-attempt rates, while Pettis is the younger of the two by four years.
- The booking reflects a continued trend of established MMA veterans taking on special-rules and crossover contests.
The match is booked for RAF 15.
