UFC 131's Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone: Since Danzig and Miller Didn’t Want to Fight, Maybe Vagner Rocha Will

Donald Cerrone

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has strong words for Mac Danzig and Cole Miller, but hopes late replacement Vagner Rocha is willing to step up when they weren’t willing.

There’s no denying that Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is a man looking for a fight.

The one-time WEC lightweight contender chalked up his first UFC win a few months ago. He was all set to take the reigns on a co-main event fight at UFC 131 this weekend, until his opponent Mac Danzig was forced out of the fight due to injury.

Cerrone and Danzig had engaged in a war of words via Twitter, and the grudge match was to be settled in Vancouver. Unfortunately, with the injury to Danzig, it was Cerrone who was given a short notice replacement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Vagner Rocha, and his fight was shifted to the first fight on the main card.

The switch was difficult for Cerrone simply because he really, really wanted to punch Danzig in the face.

“It’s hard to get motivated just to train, and the training you want, and for Mac I was. I was ready to go in there and show him that I’m not just any guy, I deserve to be there,” Cerrone told MMAWeekly Radio.

“I still have motivation, I’m going out there to do what I gotta do. I’m going to kick ass and take names. It would have just been a bigger smile on my face beating his b—h ass, that’s all.”

Cerrone isn’t going to back away from fighting Danzig in the future however. The Team Jackson-Winklejohn fighter isn’t one to exactly let go of a grudge.

“Whatever your reason is for pulling out of the fight is, now you just put a target for me to come and get you. You want to talk s–t and now you get the fight and you get scared and want to pull out? P—y. That’s how I feel about that,” Cerrone said about Danzig.

His longstanding feud with fellow lightweight Cole Miller still permeates his mind as well. According to Cerrone, when Danzig first fell out of the fight, the UFC offered the bout to Cole Miller but he wasn’t able to be ready in time.

“They tried calling Cole and he said he was injured, too. That little b—h don’t want to fight either,” Cerrone said. “I’ll just keep talking s–t and someone will step up, right?”

So with Danzig and Miller out of the picture, Vagner Rocha is the man who steps up and into the UFC 131 picture.

Rocha is a 6-1 fighter training under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Pablo Popovitch in Florida, and holds a win over Igor Gracie in a fight held in Bellator Fighting Championships in 2009.

Cerrone admits he doesn’t know much about his new opponent, but he’ll fight him the same as any other man that steps in the cage with him. One thing is for sure, Cerrone doesn’t plan to be Rocha’s launching pad to a career in the UFC.

“I don’t really know much about this guy. I don’t even know how to pronounce his name. I don’t want this guy to think I’m his stepping stone. ‘ Oh yeah this is my opportunity, this is my chance.’ No, sorry buddy. I appreciate you stepping up, I’m glad you took the fight, but I’m going in there to do what I’ve got to do, and get my hand raised. I’ve got big plans this summer,” said Cerrone.

“I heard he’s got good Popovitch Jiu-Jitsu. Well, this isn’t jiu-jitsu. So I hate to break his bubble, but we’re not going in world championship jiu-jitsu. I’m going to go in there, he’s got to start in my world. He’s got to get me to the ground, we’ll see how it goes for him.”

The only thing Cerrone is hopeful for with his fight against Rocha is that he comes to compete when they meet in the Octagon on Saturday night. Cerrone is known for his exciting style and never-say-die attitude. He wants Rocha to be on the same wavelength.

If Rocha brings the fight to Cerrone, he’ll be happy to share a “Fight of the Night” bonus with him.

“I just hope this dude comes to bring it. I don’t want to disappoint anyone and go out there and have a boring fight, have him just try to hold me and take me down and just control. I hope he comes to (expletive) fight,” said Cerrone.

“He’s got nothing to lose, he’s coming in, it’s very dangerous to fight someone like that, but who cares? Let’s fight. Just come to fight, that’s all I ask.”

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
Follow @DamonMartin on Twitter or e-mail Damon a question or comment.

Follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.