Donald Cerrone Parts Ways With Striking Coach Brandon Gibson

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title contender Donald Cerrone has parted ways with his striking coach, Brandon Gibson, in an effort to change things up going forward in his career.

"Cowboy" originally teamed up with the highly-regarded Gibson in 2016, around the time he moved up to the welterweight division. The move paid dividends early on as “Cowboy” won his first four fights at welterweight, earning “Performance of the Night” bonuses in three of them. However, since his win against Matt Brown in December 2016, he has gone 1-4 with his most recent fight a unanimous decision loss against Leon Edwards in June.

After the loss to Edwards, Cerrone decided to mix things up, precipitating the split from Gibson. The news was confirmed in a report by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

“When Donald Cerrone fights Mike Perry on Nov. 10 he won’t have one of the most respected coaches in MMA in his corner. Following Cerrone’s unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards last month, he parted ways with striking coach Brandon Gibson, ESPN recently confirmed with Gibson. Gibson described the parting ways as mutual. “I wish ‘Cowboy’ and his team all the best moving forward,” he said. “I think a new look and direction will be good for him.”

Gibson has been in Cerrone’s corner for nine straight fights, dating back to when Cerrone beat Alex Oliveira in February 2016. Cerrone will continue to have Greg Jackson in his corner from the JacksonWink camp.”

The 35-year-old company man will look to get back in the winner’s circle when he faces off against the aggressive Mike Perry on Nov. 10 at UFC Fight Night 139. The card will be headlined by featherweights Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung.