Donald Cerrone On dos Anjos: Hopefully He Trains Really Hard, I’ll Be Ready
With eight-straight wins, the always active, and red hot Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone was finally offered a title shot, and the date has finally been set as Cerrone will take on current champion Rafael dos Anjos in December.
For Cerrone, it’s about time that the fight has been announced, as he was beginning to get a bit restless waiting for the champion to be ready. “Cowboy” even recently stated that he if dos Anjos wouldn’t be ready soon that he would take a fight at 170-pounds, and he believes that threatening to do so paid off:
“I think it did speed up the process,” Cerrone told Inside MMA’s Ron Kruck and Bas Rutten. “Every day I’d call Joe [Silva] and Dana [White] and say, ‘Hey man, if I don’t get a fight soon, I’m going to 170.’ They’d be like, ‘Patience, patience.’ Yesterday, I was talking to Joe and I said, ‘I had enough, I’m going to 170.’ He just goes, ‘Just bare with me.’ I found out right around the same time ya’ll did.”
Cerrone, although clearly deserving one, has never been a fighter to wait around for a title shot, wanting to fight as often as possible, and make as much money as possible. Speaking of money, “Cowboy” spoke up about the highly criticized Reebok deal, saying that it’s definitely hurting everyone:
“The Reebok deal is definitely hurting everybody. It’s doesn’t allow us to put the sponsors — smaller fighters, not so much me,” said Cerrone. “Budweiser and E-Z-GO. Hunt Brothers Pizza and all the other corporate sponsors I have are sticking with me … thank God.”
As for the upcoming title fight, it will actually be a rematch as the two squared off in 2013 with dos Anjos scoring a unanimous decision win. As a notorious slow starter, Cerrone admits that dos Anjos capitalized, but feels as if five rounds will suit him better. “Cowboy” is also quite confident that he will be wearing UFC gold in the near future:
“Starting slow. That’s what I always go out there and do. He capitalized very well. He hit me hard,” Cerrone said. “Maybe starting a little faster. We’ve got five rounds, man. Cardio is my thing. Five rounds with me is going to be a scary thing for him. Hopefully he trains really hard and does what he has to do. I’ll be ready. There won’t be a question in my mind that I won’t be the new lightweight champion.”
Although he obviously wants to be the champion, the belt really doesn’t mean a whole lot to Cerrone, as he stated that he fights simply to fight. As long as he can go out there and have fun, “Cowboy” is a happy man:
“I guess this is the reason everybody else does this. I don’t really give a sh*t to be honest with you,” said Cerrone. “I fight to fight to fight. It don’t matter to me. Just going out there and having fun; do what I do. It’d be cool to be like, ‘I’m the best in the world at something.’ That’d be cool to give the belt to my grandma; she’ll love it. Other than that, keep kickin’ ass and taking names. Doing what I love.”
Who do you see winning the rematch?
