Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone made history on Sunday night with his win over Yancy Medeiros, which was his 20th victory inside the UFC Octagon.
That staggering number of wins ties Cerrone with Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping for the most victories in the history of the UFC.
Now the fact that Cerrone has earned 20 wins in the UFC shouldn’t be that much of a surprise considering the level of activity he’s kept since joining the roster but it’s still rather crazy when compared to the two other fighters on that short list or record setters.
Cerrone made his UFC debut back in 2011 after having 10 fights take place in the WEC, which was a sister organization under the same ownership umbrella. In the WEC, Cerrone amassed a record of 6-3 with one no contest so that would be six more wins he could have possibly tacked onto his UFC resume had he been in the organization.
While Cerrone made his move to the UFC in 2011, Bisping first appeared in the promotion back in 2006 with a win on the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter” while St-Pierre joined in 2004 in his sixth professional fight.
Now St-Pierre definitely holds the record for the most wins in the shortest amount of fights as he’s gone a remarkable 20-2 during his campaign with the UFC. That statistic is made even more amazing when considering St-Pierre left the sport for nearly four years between 2013 and 2017 before returning to tie the all time record with his win over Bisping last November.
Meanwhile, Bisping has gone 20-9 since first making his debut against Josh Haynes in 2006.
As for Cerrone, his career record with the UFC now stands at 20-7, which surpasses Bisping in terms of getting to 20 victories in less career time.
"I want 155, I want that belt. @TeamKhabib, I'm coming. I ain't scared to fight…"
Raise your hand if you're down for a Khabib vs. @cowboycerrone fight! ?? https://t.co/tfHXmnxyW0
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) February 19, 2018
Chances are Cerrone will soon own the all time record out right and it probably won’t take him long to get there.
Bisping has said numerous times that his career is coming to an end with possibly one more fight left before retiring while St-Pierre is dealing with an internal illness that may keep him sideline for the foreseeable future with no indication that he might ever return again.
Meanwhile, Cerrone has been one of the most active fighters in UFC history.
Only once during his seven year journey with the UFC has Cerrone fought less than three times in a year and that was back in 2012 when he won two fights in a row and then competed again in Jan. 2013. Cerrone fought five times in 2011 and competed four times each year between 2013 and 2016.
Cerrone has already said he wanted to get four fights in during 2018 so unless he suffers through another tough losing streak as he did in 2017, it’s tough to imagine he’s not going to cruise past St-Pierre and Bisping into that No. 1 spot all time before the year is up.
Perhaps the more amazing statistic for Cerrone is that by the time his career is finished — and there’s no sign he’s slowing down any time soon — he may just shatter that all time record to put it out of reach for anybody else to even come close.
One more number to add to Cerrone’s incredible career resume — his first round TKO against Medeiros also tied him for the most finishes in UFC history as well with 14.
Everybody knows Cerrone likes to fight, likes to make money and likes to kick back and drink a few beers but judging by his career resume, he also really likes breaking records.
Do you think Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is a future UFC Hall of Famer given the stats he’s already racked up in his career? Sound off in the comments…
