UFC 274’s Cowboy Cerrone: “I Can’t Wait To Walk Out Of That Tunnel And See His Face”

Phoenix, AZ – When Saturday night rolls around it will have been just one day short of UFC lightweight Donald Cerrone’s last fight in the octagon. That night he lost to Alex Morono via TKO. This time around he takes on a fellow MMA legend in Joe Lauzon at UFC 274 on Saturday night.

“It was much needed time off. I took a break because everyone says getting into the UFC is the most important thing they could ever do in their life. I agree with them on that, but when they get here they seem to put the brakes on and kind of quit. They make it all the way here and they go so hard to get here and they put the brakes on. I kind of caught myself ridiculing these kids for doing that, and I was doing the exact same thing,” Cerrone told reporters on Wednesday.

Cerrone was referring to fighters making to the top promotion in the sport and then being satisfied with that.

“The saying is, ‘It’s hard to be hungry when you’re full’ And I agree. So I took some time off after my last loss for sure and I didn’t know when I was going to fight, if I was going to fight again. And then one day I just woke up, called Sean (Shelby) like ‘Let’s get a fight.’ Moved camp to Vegas, parking lot pimping out in front of the UFC PI,” Cerrone said.

Cerrone moved his camp to Las Vegas, took advantage of everything the UFC PI has to offer, and more importantly trusted his coaches to guide his training camp.

“Like I said, I woke up and was like ‘Let’s do this’ and let’s do everything that I need to do to be successful so there’s no questions in my mind should have, would have, could have. Let’s do what I needed to do to get to the UFC back in the day. Let’ f*cking earn your keep. Let’s be here, let everybody know you f*cking belong here,” Cerrone said.

Cerrone has been a fighter that’s been known to take any fight, any place, any time even if he’s coming off short rest. He’s always fought to get that pay check, to get to the gold, and to put on exciting fights for the fans. Now that he’s older, wiser, a veteran of the sport, what is Cowboy fighting for?

“I have nothing else to prove. I’ve set records, I’ve been here, I’ve stayed here. I’ve done what I needed to do. So I look at myself in the mirror. I’m here for legacy now. This is just for me which is f*cking even cooler. I don’t have to worry about impressing anybody anymore that’s done. Nor do I care. I’m at the age now where it’s like you like me, you don’t, don’t give a f*ck. This is for me,” Cerrone said.

Cerrone fights for legacy, but also for family. In a rare show of emotion “Cowboy” revealed what he looks forward to the most come Saturday night in a sold-out arena in the desert of Arizona on the main card of a major PPV.

If this doesn’t get you in the feels…..@Cowboycerrone talks about his son watching him walk out of the tunnel at #UFC274 pic.twitter.com/KtnZ1B2z7y

— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) May 5, 2022

“It’s not me….it’s my son. I can’t, uh….I can’t wait…to walk out of that tunnel and see the look on his face, you know,” Cerrone said in between tears.

“I can’t wait until he knows finally what I do. It’s crazy how emotional I get. Anytime I was working out and I didn’t want to do it that’s what I thought of. Can’t f*cking wait. Cannot wait to see him smile like, ‘Wow, this is my dad?’. So to me that’s why I wanted a fan, a sold out crowd to walk out that tunnel, blow the roof off this place, and look over and see my son like wow Dad…that’s you.”

Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone faces Joe Lauzon at UFC 274 on Saturday, April 7, 2022 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Check out Cerrone’s full media day scrum above. More coverage can be found below.