OTTAWA — Al Iaquinta, ranked fourth among UFC lightweight contenders, will take on No. 9 Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone in an all-American main event of the May 4 televised UFC card in Ottawa.
The co-main event at the Canadian Tire Centre is a middleweight bout between No. 8 Derek Brunson and No. 14 Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou of Toronto.
The 35-year-old Cerrone (35-1-0 with one no contest) has won three of his last four since losing three straight to Darren (The Gorilla) Till, (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler and Jorge (Gamebred) Masvidal.
Cerrone returned to lightweight last time out in a January win over Alexander Hernandez. He was 6-4-0 as a welterweight.
Cerrone’s 22 UFC wins are the most in the promotion’s history. Cerrone, who has eight UFC losses, has also won a record 14 fight-night bonuses in the UFC.
The 31-year-old Iaquinta (14-4-1) is coming off a December win over Kevin Lee. A unanimous decision loss to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov on a short-notice bout prior to that snapped a five-fight win streak.
Brunson (18-7-0) is coming off back-to-back losses to Israel (The Last Stylebender) Adesanya and Ronaldo (Jacare) Souza.
Theodorou (17-2-0) has won three straight and five of his last six. His most recent victory was a split decision over Eryk (Ya Boi) Anders at UFC 231 in Toronto in December.
In other bouts:
No. 9 heavyweight contender Aleksei Oleinik (57-11-1) of Russia takes on American Walt Harris (11-7-0 and one no-contest).
Bantamweight Brad (Superman) Katona (9-0-0), a Winnipeg native who fights out of Dublin, meets Merab Dvalishvili (8-3-0), a native of Tbilisi, Georgia, now based in Long Island, N.Y.
Montreal bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi (7-1-0) faces American Vince Morales (7-2-0).
Quebec City middleweight Marc-Andre (Power Bar) Barriault (11-1-0) makes his UFC debut against American Andrew Sanchez (11-4-0). Barriault has won his last eight fights.
French-born Montreal-based welterweight Nordine Taleb (14-6-0), meets Siyar Bahadurzada (23-7-0), an Afghan based out of Amsterdam.
Heavyweight Arjan Bhullar (8-1-0) of Richmond, B.C., faces American Juan Adams (5-0-0).
Bantamweight Mitch Gagnon (12-4-0) of Sudbury, Ont., meets American Brian Kelleher (19-10-0).
Bantamweight Sarah (Cheesecake) Moras (5-5-0) of Kelowna, B.C., tackles American Leah Letson (5-2-0).
Kyle (The Monster) Nelson (12-2-0) of Huntsville, Ont., drops down to featherweight against American Matt Sayles (6-2-0).
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