UFC lightweight title challenger Donald Cerrone has welcomed the prospect of a possible bout with Conor McGregor, taunting the Irishman as well as his upcoming opponent, Rafael dos Anjos.
Speaking to the media ahead of the showdown with Dos Anjos on UFC on Fox this weekend (h/t Submission Radio and Bloody Elbow), Cerrone was in boisterous mood. “Come on with it, baby,” was his response when quizzed on the prospect of a bout with McGregor. “I love it. I love the idea.”
He also claimed the Irishman is a “p---y” and slammed McGregor’s preparations for his fight with Jose Aldo at UFC 194, *warning expletive language used*:
Someone asked me if I had a movement coach and I said I have no f-----g idea what a movement coach is. So he can work with a f-----g ballerina. I don't give a s--t what the kid does, you know.
Whatever helps him out. Like sure, if you think movement coach, jumping over sticks and sh-t is gonna help you, it f-----g might. I don't know. Maybe I'm in the dark ages here.
McGregor had claimed in the build-up and after his win over Aldo that he’d be moving up a weight division following UFC 194, as he seeks to become the third competitor ever to become a champion in two different weight classes.
As noted by Chamatkar Sandhu, McGregor doesn’t have a particularly high opinion of the division at the moment, with its title fight held on a free-to-air bill:
McGregor: Lightweight division is struggling, the RDA vs Cerrone fight isn't even on PPV. The division needs me, I don't need the division.
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) December 13, 2015
So whoever emerges victorious from this showdown between Cerrone and Dos Anjos could potentially be looking at a big boost in their own coverage should McGregor get an immediate shot at the title. And the challenger revealed he doesn’t foresee too many problems when he steps into the Octagon with the Brazilian.
“Dos Anjos, his wrestling and grappling is supposed to be good, but I feel my Jiu Jitsu, wrestling and striking is way better,” Cerrone confidently proclaimed. “I’m better than him all across the board. So this fight is all mine. I'm 100 percent confident. I feel the best I've ever felt, literally.”
Dos Anjos and Cerrone have faced each other previously, with the former getting the better of things in 2013 with a unanimous decision win. Much has happened since then, including eight successive wins for Cerrone, culminating in an impressive knockout triumph over John Makdessi in May this year.
As we can see here courtesy of this video from UFC President Dana White, tensions are running high between these two rivals:
Fiiiiiiiiight weeeeeeek!!!! Rafael dos Anjos vs Donald Cerrone for the lightweight title LIVE and FREE on FOX!!! pic.twitter.com/w6Wr2LHpHE
— Dana White (@danawhite) December 14, 2015
There have been some peculiar barbs in the pre-fight preparations, too. As noted by Submission Radio, Dos Anjos had complained that in the poster for the event, Cerrone’s cowboy hat is actually bigger than his title belt. Needless to say, the challenger was irked by what he feels to be trivial protests, *warning expletive language used*:
That's like really something petty to f-----g bitch about. But I don't know if you've seen when Diaz fought GSP. Diaz was huge, GSP was small size. It's just something they do, you know. It's not like their like ‘oh Cowboy and not him'. There's been several posters that they do that. He's just crying over spilt f-----g milk, so whatever.
Cerrone will be desperate to put himself in position to notch a lucrative bout with McGregor. While he may decry the qualities of the Irishman, at the moment he’s the face of the UFC and the biggest draw in the sport. Therefore, a lightweight title fight between him and Cerrone would enrich the reputation of the American too.
Dos Anjos is a big challenge for Cerrone, though. Having already lost to the Brazilian there are mental hurdles for him to overcome as well as physical ones, and that’s likely to make for an intriguing fight in Orlando. Given the riches potentially in store for the winner, there’s much more at stake than the strap too.
