Donald Cerrone believes Nurmagomedov is next if he beats Justin Gaethje

Fan favorite UFC lightweight contender Donald Cerrone believes Justin Gaethje is the only opponent standing between him and the undefeated lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“Cowboy” Cerrone is scheduled to fight “The Highlight” this weekend at UFC Vancouver. The highly anticipated matchup is a chance for Cerrone to recover from his last fight: a doctor’s stoppage loss against Tony Ferguson at UFC 238. With a significant 36 wins under his belt, Cerrone believes he has what it takes to fight Nurmagomedov for the title.

“After I beat Gaethje, there’s nobody else (except Nurmagomedov),” Cerrone said during an interview at the UFC Vancouver open workouts (via MMA Junkie). “That’s it, there is no one in front of me. I do want to fight in December though. I’ll have to take a little 155 break go to 170, we’ll see.”

Cerrone is the type of fighter who always likes to be busy and, as he says, he is open to taking a welterweight fight in the interim.

On the other side of the coin, Khabib Nurmagomedov is revelling in the success of his 28th win against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. He is now looking for a legacy fight and is hoping he can get Georges St Pierre out of retirement to fight it out. If not, there have been hints of a Tony Ferguson fight or Conor McGregor rematch, but his manager has dismissed these claims and is focused on ‘GSP’.

If Donald Cerrone gets the victory over Justin Gaethje, who would you like to see him fight next? Let us know in the comments below.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/12/2019.