Cerrone doesn’t care who he fights
UFC 187: Lightweight brings a seven-fight win streak against Makdessi, who replaces Nurmagomedov E. Spencer Kyte
Donald Cerrone was supposed to square off with unbeaten lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov, but a few weeks ago the latter was forced from the bout after hurting his knee in training.
As fighters volunteered to fill in for the felled contender, Cerrone just kept on preparing, knowing the UFC would find a replacement and his ultimate assignment — to fight Saturday at UFC 187 at the MGM in Las Vegas — hadn’t changed.
That’s one of the perks of abiding to the ‘anytime, anywhere, anyone’ mindset.
The name on the other side of the ledger doesn’t really matter — all that matters is that on a specified day, you’re going to step into the Octagon and throw down.
Instead of battling Nurmagomedov to determine who is next in line for a shot at the lightweight title, Cerrone will face Canadian John Makdessi, who is four weeks removed from a first-round stoppage win over Shane Campbell at UFC 186 in Montreal — a bout that doesn’t exactly do much for Cerrone.
Of course, none of that matters to the American simply known as ‘Cowboy.’ He just wants to kick butt.
“(UFC president) Dana (White) called me up and told me that Khabib was out,” Cerrone told FOX Sports’ Elias Cepeda, “and I told him, ‘OK, so who is going to replace him?’
“I wanted the fight with Khabib and was ready for it, but now we’ve got Makdessi.
“Great! I signed a contract to fight at UFC 187, so I’m going to fight at UFC 187, whoever it is against. It’s the same thing.”
Over the last two years, no one has crossed the threshold into the UFC cage more frequently than Cerrone, the 32-year-old former WEC standout who now stands on the precipice of earning his first shot at UFC gold. Saturday’s bout with Makdessi will be his 10th in 728 days, just two days shy of the anniversary of the night he defeated K.J. Noons at UFC 160.
He’s 8-1 over that stretch and riding a seven-fight winning streak. The last man to beat him is current lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
The showdown with Nurmagomedov would have determined the No. 1 contender in the loaded lightweight division and a win for Cerrone would have not only earned him a long-awaited title shot, but exorcised some of the demons from previous missed opportunities as well.
He could have waited — opted to withdraw from this weekend’s festivities and got the first crack at dos Anjos when the new champion is ready to return — but that’s not Cerrone’s style.
He’d much rather continue fighting and let the chips fall where they may, which is precisely why he’s still stepping into the cage this weekend.
Win or lose Saturday, Cerrone will just saddle up and ride again, ready to face off with whomever, whenever, wherever until he finally gets a chance to fight for the championship belt.