The lightweight scrap between Donald Cerrone and Eddie Alvarez at UFC 178 has real ‘Peoples’ main event’ potential, but it’s all the same to ‘Cowboy.’
“Anybody, doesn’t matter to me,” Cerrone told Sherdog.com. “They’re all the same. For the fans, sure. He’s hyped up. Get everyone tuned in, excited, but for me, a fight’s a fight. I don’t give a s**t.”
Admitting he’s a bit of a ‘kindred spirit’ with Alvarez given their pasts developing outside the UFC, Cerrone won’t make it any easier for the former Bellator champion.
“Everyone was saying us WEC guys were going to get smashed,” said Cerrone. “I never really gave him much thought. He’s coming from Bellator, s**t, wish him luck. Too bad he’s got to go in with me. It’s a tough fight, first fight. ‘Welcome to the UFC. Here’s Cowboy.’
“It’s going to be a scrap. Dude throws down. That’s all I know about him. Haven’t really seen him fight, ever. That’s what people tell me. S**t, I’m ready. Never seen Eddie fight, ever. Never, never, never. I’ve seen a picture of him before. That’s it. I don’t watch fights. People don’t understand. They’re like, ‘You don’t know anything about your opponent?’ ‘No, I know nothing about him.’
If he manages to notch his fourth win of 2014 with a victory over Alvarez, Cerrone could be next to challenge the winner of the title bout between lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez Dec. 6 at UFC 181. Sticking to his plan to fight six times in the calendar year, Cerrone says he’d rather stay busy than wait for his title shot.
“It’s what’s going to happen,” said Cerrone. “My teammates, my coaches, my management, they all think we should wait and take the title fight. But, you already know, people who know me, I’m gonna say, ‘Let’s roll. Let’s keep it going.’
“They don’t fight until December, right? They won’t be ready to fight probably until February again. That’s a long wait for me. I’ll just take fights. I don’t care about my position in the top 10, top five of if I’m No. 1. I’ll fight anybody. I just want to fight. Make money. I won’t sit and wait.”
Cerrone faces Alvarez in the co-main event of UFC 178 in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 27.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Postponed. The UFC middleweight title bout between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort has been pushed to February after Weidman suffered a broken hand.
The good news. A rematch between UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler will now headline UFC 181.
High praise. UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson compares Conor McGregor to ‘a young Mike Tyson, a young Muhammad Ali.’
Rematch. Mark Hunt wants a chance to avenge a loss to Josh Barnett. ‘I’ve never lost a rematch, Josh Barnett, me and you my friend, we’ve got a date.’
Surgery for Bigfoot. Antonio Silva will undergo an operation to remove a tumor on his pituitary gland.
Watch The MMA Hour with Mark Hunt, Rich Franklin, Demetrious Johnson, Stefan Struve, Michael Chandler, Marc Ratner, Jon Anik, John Kavanagh and Artem Lobov.
MEDIA STEW
Dan Hardy is back to help you gamble make sense of UFC 178.
Countdown for Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso.
Training Day: Cerrone vs Alvarez.
Ronda Rousey knows too much about Pokemon.
All access at BAMMA 16.
Cris Cyborg eating a scorpion in Thailand.
Long watches.
Knuckle Up #399: UFC Fight Night, Rumble, Mayweather + God, Damn!
…
TWEETS
Thank you.
I’m excited for this @ufc title fight! Let’s do this! Thank u fans!
— robbie lawler (@Ruthless_RL) September 23, 2014
Who else is ready for this rematch?! @reebok @smart_stop @trxtraining @alienware http://t.co/PGwqNlpafc pic.twitter.com/d9CpHjLIdA
— Johny Hendricks (@JohnyHendricks) September 22, 2014
Yes.
I get why @markhunt1974 would want to rematch me. All of us fighters want to avenge our losses & I totally respect him in that. Good dude.
— Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) September 23, 2014
Not sure when that fight could be made but I’m not against it in the least. Great job in your last tussle mate @markhunt1974
— Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) September 23, 2014
@JoshLBarnett thanks and it’s about bloody time u get back into the octagon u can’t take that much time off.
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) September 23, 2014
@danawhite @JoshLBarnett hey dana josh and I are interested in battling in Sydney there’s no way josh should take this much time off
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) September 23, 2014
I think he’s still overseas.
Still waiting for you @IamTheImmortal make it happen @ufc @danawhite pic.twitter.com/LCalPpZAKj
— Hector Lombard (@HectorLombard) September 23, 2014
So much beef.
@RustamTheTiger @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite Wow thought u were on the injured list lol anytime u that bro it’s nothing
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@RustamTheTiger @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite Want u to know I respect your skills but bro your boring if u want to hug n slow dance lets go
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@DaOneNonlyBLAZE @RustamTheTiger @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite Got worked by benson that spinning shit wasn’t working for your ass then lol
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@DaOneNonlyBLAZE @RustamTheTiger @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite And it’s not going to now if u want to get lock horns bro we can get down!!
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @arielhelwani @danawhite enough talking. Call the @ufc and I’ll make sure to finish to shut your mouth.
— Rustam Khabilov (@RustamTheTiger) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @DaOneNonlyBLAZE @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite you did not win the Thompson fight and you barely threw any punches
— Rustam Khabilov (@RustamTheTiger) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc I already asked to fight you.Call joe and Dana Btw you didn’t win the James Krause fight either
— Rustam Khabilov (@RustamTheTiger) September 23, 2014
@DaOneNonlyBLAZE @RustamTheTiger @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite Tiger if u truly believe that this will be an easy fight
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite have your mngr call mine and make this fight happen. You always run your mouth never finish fight
— Rustam Khabilov (@RustamTheTiger) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc I beat masvidal and you fought on the prelim when he fought for strikeforce title
— Rustam Khabilov (@RustamTheTiger) September 23, 2014
@RustamTheTiger @ufc @arielhelwani @danawhite Who did u finish? wait u got finished lol that’s the prob with u boys need to mind yo business
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@RustamTheTiger @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc What does that have anything to do with us I’m 7 what number are u? I think somewhere like 15
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc lets fight
— Rustam Khabilov (@RustamTheTiger) September 23, 2014
@RustamTheTiger @BobbyKGreen @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc bobby don’t talk about me I will kick your ass with one leg you bum
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) September 23, 2014
@BobbyKGreen @RustamTheTiger @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc buy buy ?
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) September 23, 2014
@TeamKhabib @RustamTheTiger @arielhelwani @danawhite @ufc To fight u with a due “respect” I don’t think it will be interesting
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 23, 2014
Does it have a Russian accent?
Sometimes I think I hear death calling me
— Bobby King Green (@BobbyKGreen) September 22, 2014
I feel stronger everyday. My rehab is going great. I cant wait to get back in the cage and ge… http://t.co/2qnR8jy9EQ pic.twitter.com/X6dgO3fcN9
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) September 22, 2014
Different strokes.
Some call this a delightful snack…5 days out from fight day, I call it dinner.:) #Thinkligh… http://t.co/wED8dingUz pic.twitter.com/zn9JFXgttB
— Dominick Cruz (@TheDomin8r) September 23, 2014
?????????????????????????????(?)?????????… pic.twitter.com/o3f94JOVBf
— Takeya Mizugaki (@takeya_miz) September 23, 2014
Ready.
Today I weigh 145 lbs waking up, my resting heart rate is 44 beats per minute, right on schedule for #UFC178 ! @ufc pic.twitter.com/AdD2WeclyA
— Alpha Cat Zingano (@CatZingano) September 22, 2014
Ronda working on the left.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Sept. 22 2014)
cancelled Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 181
Johnny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler at UFC 181
Joe Riggs vs. Ben Saunders at UFC on FOX 13
Tom DeBlass vs. Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 131
Barb Honchak vs. Takayo Hashi at Invicta FC 9: Honchak vs. Hashi
Cris Cyborg vs. TBA at Invicta FC 10
Jussier Formiga vs. John Moraga at UFC on FOX 13
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via Dave From Newfoundland.
This post has nothing to do with whether or not Thiago should of been cut from the UFC, I believe he was rightfully handed his walking papers. Its about this fans thoughts on Silva and where he ranks as a fighter on the roster, and from what Ive been listening to/reading lately it seems to be a fair bit higher than a lot of the media & fans think .What prompted me to write this post is reading and seeing a lot of the responses from peeps on Silva’s firing/hiring/firing. Ive heard many people being very quick to question whether or not he was worth the risk to bring back, bare in mind, I’m talking about before the video’s surfaced and he was subsequently cut, and Im also not speaking about his reinstatement from the business perspective as a marketable asset. I’m talking purely about his fighting ability.
…
Check out the rest of the post here.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.