Donald Cerrone, Al Iaquinta Verbally Agree to Headline UFC Ottawa on May 4

It appears as though the much-hyped Donald Cerrone vs. Conor McGregor matchup will not come to fruition. Instead, “Cowboy” will square off against Al Iaquinta in the UFC Ottawa headliner.

ESPN reported on Tuesday that both Cerrone and Iaquinta have verbally agreed to the lightweight bout. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not yet formally announced the pairing. UFC Ottawa takes place on May 4 and also features a middleweight clash pitting Derek Brunson against Elias Theodorou. The card will stream on ESPN+.

Cerrone returned to lightweight at UFC Fight Night 143, where he scored a second-round technical knockout of lightweight prospect Alexander Hernandez in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 19. The popular veteran has won three of his last four Octagon appearances.

Iaquinta, meanwhile, is coming off a five-round verdict over Kevin Lee in the UFC on Fox 31 headliner. Prior to that, the Serra-Longo Fight Team member lost a decision to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title bout at UFC 223 last April.