'Cowboy' calls out Khabib Nurmagomedov, instantly becomes Dana White's favorite fighter

ATLANTIC CITY – Pay attention, fighters. Want to know how to make UFC President Dana White a happy man? Jot down a few notes when Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone takes the microphone.

“Whoever wants to sign the contract,” Cerrone told MMAjunkie. “I say that, and I mean it. You see a lot of guys that want to sit, say they’re hurt, secure their position in the top-10. I don’t care. If the last place guy wants to step up and fight me, come on with it. That’s how I feel. If you want to get in there and fight, let’s go.”

Cerrone (23-6 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who currently sits at No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, takes on the No. 13-ranked Jim Miller (24-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in the main event of Wednesday’s FOX Sports 1-televised “UFC Fight Night 45: Cerrone vs. Miller” event.

For Cerrone, the bout represents his third fight of 2014, a number he hopes to run to six before year’s end. Cerrone has proven a human highlight reel throughout his fighting career, and in his past three fights alone, he’s nabbed “Performance of the Night,” “Knockout of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” bonuses.

Cerrone said he’s enjoying his role this week as a UFC headliner but doesn’t really care about where he’s placed on cards moving forward.

“It’s cool seeing my picture on the poster,” Cerrone said. “That’s cool. But I’ll fight the first fight of the night, the first guy out there. I don’t care. First, second, last – it’s all the same to me. It don’t matter.”

In Miller, Cerrone fights another hard-nosed veteran capable of turning in a crowd-pleasing effort. In comparing the fighters stylistically, the bout seems destined to deliver fireworks, and Cerrone said he’s been anticipating the clash for some time.

“We knew we were crossing one day for sure,” Cerrone said. “Tough guy. I have no bad blood with the guy. I think he would be fun to go hunt and drink beer with, for sure. I’ve got nothing bad to say. … But come Wednesday night, we’ll be going.”

After this fight, Cerrone said he’s happy to accept another assignment as quickly as possible, regardless of the outcome. Truth be told, if UFC officials didn’t tap the brakes for him, Cerrone would probably fight every week. And when pressed to see if there’s a particular name that makes sense, Cerrone points out No. 7-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov as an opponent that seems to be struggling to find a dance partner – that is, if the UFC doesn’t need him at next week’s UFC on FOX 12 event.

“There’s a guy that everyone is saying they’re scared to fight, so I’ll go ahead and step up; I don’t mind: that Khabib dude,” Cerrone said. “Bring his ass on, too. I don’t care.

“Who, when, that doesn’t matter. Chasing that belt, that’s the overall goal for sure. But like I said, I just want to fight. I know Michael Johnson just got hurt. I’ll gladly 10 days from now go fight Josh Thomson, no problem. Just load up the RV, take off and go.”

And that, in a nutshell, is Donald Cerrone. The 31-year-old embodies the “anybody, anytime” attitude, and it’s a legacy he hopes to continue building until the day he finally decides to walk away from the sport.

“I want to know when I’m fighting people say, ‘I’m buying that pay-per-view. I’m pulling off the road, we’re finding a bar because I know this fight is going down,’” Cerrone said. “That’s what I want. That’s the only legacy I care about. I want people to know I fought my ass off and gave everything I had.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 45, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.