Cowboy Cerrone was his joking, affable self at Thursday’s UFC Denver media day, aside from talk of Mike Winkeljohn. And you can add him to the list of fighters who would love to see a weight class added between lightweight and welterweight.
Denver, CO — Donald Cerrone is nothing if not a straight shooter. And not one to censor himself. That was apparent at UFC Denver’s media day on Thursday, when Cowboy came out firing when discussing his weight cut to 170lbs. Which could be his last cut to welterweight for a while, to hear Cowboy Cerrone tell it.
“Maybe a quick jerk off, I’ll be alright,” Cowboy joked about shedding the last four pounds in his weight cut. When it comes to dropping weight, “I’ve been saying that the last three fights, but then the UFC offers me another one [at welterweight]. But I’m trying to put my foot down now, I said ‘you know what, I’m going back to 155. It’s time, it’s time.'”
Asked whether he could drop the 19lbs needed to hit lightweight on short notice, Cerrone said with a laugh that “man I would have to get a couple porno mags and really get to work, wouldn’t I?”
Even talk of opponent Mike Perry perhaps getting in his face at tomorrow’s weigh-ins couldn’t get Cerrone down. “He’s kind of like a goofball when it comes to all this weigh-ins. I’m sure he’ll do something retarded,” he suggested. “I don’t know. Fun. I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve.”
There’s plenty of reasons for the good spirits. Cerrone is fighting on a historic night, for himself and the UFC. “There’s a lot of records to set. Bonuses to win. Lot of good sh*t going on. It’s fun.”
As to what record is most attractive to him, Cerrone answered “The winningest UFC fighter is pretty awesome, man. But the most headkick knockouts is pretty cool too. Most bonuses, that’s pretty cool too. It’s a good list.”
“F*ck him. There’s your clickbait, motherf*ckers. F*ck you Winkeljohn.”
The only grey clouds came when Cerrone was asked whether he wished the fight with Perry hadn’t happened. It’s a fight that, indirectly, shed light on a feud between Cerrone and Jackson-Wink MMA coach Mike Winkeljohn. Perry isn’t directly involved in the feud, but would a fight against someone else had made things easier?
“You mean in terms of I could still be at the gym and this never would have happened?” Cerrone clarified. “But it happened. It did. Winkeljohn drew his line in the sand. And I get to spit on the other side. So it’s alright. F*ck him. There’s your clickbait, motherf*ckers. F*ck you Winkeljohn.”
“My fight’s with Perry, has nothing to do with Wink,” Cowboy continued. “That’s outside drama. It won’t even come into play on Saturday. Just right now you’re bringing it out of me. I’ll see him, but he has nothing to do— my opponent’s Perry. Perry has nothing to do with the drama going on, with any of that.”
Back to the good stuff. Asked about reaching the record for most walks to the WEC/UFC/Pride/Strikeforce cage, Cerrone answered that “God it’s cool, especially on such a historic night, that this is the 25th anniversary.”
“It’s cool, it means a lot of the UFC to put me on this card,” he continued. Especially at this point in his career. “They don’t get any easier. You’d think like ‘man, this is your 40th-something walk,’ maybe you’d be cruising down. Nah, I’m still gonna be sweating bullets, faking it til I make it, that’s for damn sure.”
At 35, Cerrone is the oldest fighter on the card, and he’s very appreciative of the path he has taken. “I couldn’t have picked a better career, I couldn’t have picked a better job. Thank you UFC, for allowing it. Thank you guys, you clickbait pr*cks, for f*cking being there.”
With age has brought renewed focus. Long a fighter who said he didn’t care about titles, Cerrone has had a change of heart. “It’s time. My whole career, mentality-wise, I’ve always been like ‘I just want to fight, that’s who I am, I just want to fight, I want to put on a show,'” he explained. “But I can see the end of the tunnel. I’m not lying to anybody. I’m the oldest guy on this card. So it’s time. That’s like that last thing I need to do in my career before I hang it up.”
Not that he plans on hanging up the gloves if he does win the belt. He plans on fighting until the UFC tells him they don’t allow walkers.
And it would be nice if some of those fights yet to come were between 155lbs and 170lbs. “F*ck yeah. That’s ideal,” said Cerrone of a new weight class. “160 for me is the weight that I would love. 65 would be nice. The last pound at 55 is brutal. My corners hate me, I’m like The Exorcist in there yelling at everyone ‘ f*cking give me water!’ ‘No, you can’t have water!’ It’s tough.”
“Perry let’s fight at 65 this weekend. We’ll be the interim champs right now,” Cerrone later exclaimed.
The full UFC Denver media day scrum with Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone is available above. The event takes place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO on Saturday, November 10.
