UFC 182's Donald Cerrone scoffs at Myles Jury's record: 'He's not f-cking undefeated'

Donald Cerrone

Donald Cerrone was excited to put the first blemish on Myles Jury’s spotless record. Then he dug a little deeper and discovered Jury’s record isn’t so perfect after all.

“I thought he was undefeated,” Cerrone told MMAjunkie. “I was like, ‘Hell yeah.’ I didn’t realize he tried out for ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and got dusted, so he’s not f-cking undefeated.”

Jury was a cast member on Season 15 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. He was the third overall pick of coach Dominick Cruz, who is a teammate of Jury’s at Alliance MMA in San Diego.

“Fury” suffered a split-decision loss to eventual season finalist Al Iaquinta in the opening round of the tournament. But on “TUF,” the fights are considered exhibition matches and aren’t included on a pro resume.

Beyond Cerrone’s (25-6 MMA, 12-3 UFC) belief Jury (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) sports a fabricated record, he also has a slight personal score to settle with his UFC 182 counterpart. Jury defeated Cerrone’s friend and training partner Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision at UFC 171 in March.

In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Jury announced he was “surprised” how easily he defeated Sanchez, who is one of the longest tenured fighters on the UFC roster.

Cerrone admits that in-cage moment rubbed him the wrong way. He said he doesn’t have any personal disdain toward Jury, but he wasn’t particularly pleased with how the 26-year-old carried himself after scoring a win against one of the best-known fighters in company history.

“I wouldn’t say I’m gunning for the kid,” Cerrone said. “His win over Diego (Sanchez), him saying, ‘Oh, I can’t believe I beat him that easy,’ that he’s ‘taking out veterans’ and that’s what he does – I didn’t like it. I don’t dislike him more than anybody else I would say, but now it’s time to prove it.”

Jury will have the chance to prove he can beat the elite of the lightweight division on Saturday at UFC 182. The matchup co-headlines the pay-per-view main lineup, which airs following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The bout will see two of the division’s longest UFC winning streaks collide; Cerrone has won his past five bouts while Jury has won six consecutive fights in the octagon and 15 straight overall, not including the “TUF” exhibition.

While Jury’s skills have noticeably progressed since appearing on the reality show in early 2012, Cerrone said he won’t be intimidated.

Cerrone is notorious for his lack of film study. He has little insight on the intricacies of Jury’s offense and defense, but he knows flaws exist. Official or not, Jury has been defeated in the past, so Cerrone knows it’s possible.

“He’s undefeated because they counted his ass whooping as an exhibition match,” Cerrone said. “He’s not undefeated in my book. He got beat. If he’s this new-age fighter and the baddest motherf-cker on the planet like he says, then why didn’t he get through the dudes on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’?”

Jury has produced some solid wins in his career, but he hasn’t been in the sport long enough to build a resume comparable to Cerrone’s. “Cowboy” holds victories over Eddie Alvarez, Jim Miller, Edson Barboza, Melvin Guillard and Charles Oliveira, to name a few.

The bout with Jury is Cerrone’s fifth in less than 12 months. He’s won the previous four and hopes to pick up where he left off at UFC 182. His primary goal is always to keep as active as possible. He said he’s not looking past Jury, but he has an idea whom he’d like to fight next.”

“As soon as I get through Myles, I’m going to be on the mic calling out whoever,” Cerrone said. “Hopefully Khabib (Nurmagomedov) is ready because there’s a lot of talk about this Khabib dude. I’ve tried to fight him twice now, so I’m ready for a third time.”

Similar to Jury, Nurmagomedov is an undefeated fighter who’s won six straight fights under the UFC banner. “The Eagle” should be the next UFC lightweight title challenger, but a knee injury may keep him from facing 155-pound titleholder Anthony Pettis.

If Nurmagomedov is unable to challenge “Showtime” and must take another fight in the interim, then Cerrone wants a piece of the Russian. He said he’d relish the chance to ruin another undefeated record and knows a win over Nurmagomedov would move him toward his ultimate goal of winning a UFC championship and rematching Pettis, who handed him a first-round body-kick KO loss in January 2013.

“There were things I should have done different when I fought (Pettis), but I’m not making excuses,” Cerrone said. “The son of a bitch kicked me hard, and I had no answer. I just crumbled. When I face him again, I will be ready this time.”

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