It’s often said in fighting that losses provide the best lessons for the fallen combatant. After coming up short in a bid to unseat UFC lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone doesn’t exactly agree.
“I fired all my coaches,” Cerrone deadpanned. “Fired ’em all. Started over. Headline: ‘Cowboy’ fires Greg Jackson.”
If you’re one of Cerrone’s 270,000 Twitter followers or one of his 410,000 Instagram fans, it won’t take you long to realize “Cowboy” is being just a touch facetious when asked what was revealed to him in the shocking 66-second loss.
“For f-ck’s sakes, come on,” Cerrone told MMAjunkie. “No, I haven’t reflected on it.”
The December result snapped an eight-fight winning streak for Cerrone, though it did nothing to hurt his popularity, as he remains unquestionably one of the sport’s most beloved fighters. But try and pinpoint a reason for the loss – an unusually long layoff, at least by his standards, for instance – and Cerrone will quickly insist you simply accept the result for what it was: a bad night in the office.
“I just didn’t show up,” Cerrone said. “That was it. He hit me with a great liver shot and f-cking put me down. What can I say? There’s nothing. It was just a bad night.
“There’s nothing to reflect on. I mean, what can I say? ‘Oh, maybe I didn’t warm up good enough.’ Or what, maybe the 12 seconds that the fight went, I didn’t do something good enough? I don’t understand what to reflect on. It would be different if I got mauled for five rounds. It was a 12-second fight. I got my ass whipped.”
Of course, Cerrone’s shocking loss wasn’t the only disappointment for him at UFC on FOX 17. It was later revealed that he was one of three athletes issued a payment reduction after violating terms of the promotion’s Athlete Outfitting Policy.
Cerrone initially balked at the promotion’s decision but said he wants to clear the air regarding his choice to wear an unapproved patch on his shorts that held sentimental value.
“I need to step up and own that because I wasn’t a victim,” Cerrone said. “It’s not like (UFC President) Dana (White) and the UFC and Reebok – I wasn’t a victim.
“I knew fair well that I was not allowed to wear that, and I knew I was going to get fined if I did. So I need to put that out there and say that I willingly knew I was (going to get fined), I just didn’t know it was going to be that much. You know what I’m saying? It was a lot. I figured a couple grand, sure, I’ll take the fine. It’s worth it for me. So I guess when I tweeted it out and said that Reebok took my money, it made them look guilty like I was a victim and it was their fault, when really, I knew before I did it, right? You get what I’m saying? I did it anyway, and then I got fined, and then I made it seem like, ‘Reebok’s f-cking me.’ And really, I f-cked’ myself.”
Cerrone (28-7 MMA, 15-4 UFC) gets a shot at redemption at UFC Fight Night 83, where he moves up to 170 pounds to face the UFC’s Brazilian “Cowboy,” Alex Oliveira (13-3-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC). The two headline the FOX Sports 1-televised event, which takes place Feb. 21 at Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center.
Cerrone admits he didn’t know much about his opponent when he accepted the fight, which sees Oliveira step in for Tim Means following a flagged pre-fight drug test issued by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, but that should come as no surprise.
“I was in Cabo San Lucas fishing,” Cerrone said. “I don’t care. It didn’t matter who I fought. They already knew I’d say, ‘Yes.’ It’s not like I need to call and check with my coaching staff and make sure it was OK. I’d have been pissed if they had pulled me off the card. They know just get me a fight. It doesn’t matter who.”
Whether or not the fight will serve as a springboard to a Cerrone run in the welterweight division remains to be seen. “Cowboy” said he’s open to fight at both 170 and 155 pounds, but he’s currently enjoying life in a new weight class.
“I’m 175 right now,” Cerrone said. “I’m going to see ‘Deadpool’ as soon as we get off the phone, and I’m going to eat some popcorn smothered in butter, washed down with a Slurpee. I can’t wait.
“I had Budweiser last night and Fruit Roll-Ups this morning. How about that? That’s real life. That’s a true story.”
So Cerrone probably won’t be talking much about the dos Anjos loss. It didn’t give him an epiphany. There was no moment he recounts when the fight was lost due to a technical mistake. He lost, plain and simple, and now he’s ready to get into another fist fight.
Sure, he won’t turn down another shot at the belt down the line, but Cerrone is just going back to what he does best. The 32-year-old is hoping for five fights this year, and he doesn’t care about rankings. Just keep the paychecks coming.
“I don’t even care; whatever they want to do,” Cerrone said. “It makes no difference to me. I’m not going to say no. But I’m not going to get out there and say, ‘My next fight, title fight. It’s my dream.’ I don’t care. I don’t give a sh-t. Give me Conor McGregor. I’ll fight that p-ssy. Other than that, I don’t care. Tell that dude to slow his f-cking roll. You can’t be just calling out 170-pounders. So, whatever. Enough of him.
“Tune in. It’s going down in Steeltown.”
For more on UFC Fight Night 83, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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