Daniel Cormier recently pushed back against Donald Cerrone’s plans for a UFC comeback following his revelation of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his retirement.
Earlier this week, “Cowboy”, who retired from the UFC in July 2022, revealed plans to come out of retirement with an ambitious goal—reaching the achievement of 50 total bouts under the Zuffa banner. The 41-year-old fan favorite has racked up 38 UFC fights, placing him third in the promotion’s history—excluding the 10 more bouts he logged in the WEC.
Cerrone also disclosed that he’s been on Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and other PEDs throughout his time away from the Octagon. Now, he’s working to flush these substances out of his system, aiming to rejoin the drug-testing pool and make his return for two more fights.
However, Cormier isn’t on board with Cerrone’s plan to return to active competition after openly admitting to using steroids during his hiatus. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, the former two-division UFC champion voiced his firm disapproval, stating that “Cowboy” actions could set a troubling precedent.
“DC” argued that it might inspire other fighters to temporarily withdraw from testing protocols, exploit their time off, and return with an unfair advantage.
“For years now, he’s been openly using steroids. I don’t quite know what it is, but he’s not been clean. And even if he can come back, take tests, and pass those tests, for him to get back, he has to do all of those things and all those enhancers to allow him to feel like he can compete at that level again.
So he would test clean, but isn’t that just a loophole? Isn’t it just a loophole like with the guys, when they get hurt, they get out of the testing pool? They recover from the injury; then they re-enter the testing pool.”
– DC on Cowboy Cerrone wanting to fight again
Cerrone last fought at UFC 276, where he suffered a submission loss to Jim Miller. Despite this setback, his career is impressive, featuring 18 post-fight bonuses—the most in UFC history, a record he shares with Charles Oliveira. He is tied for the second-most wins in UFC history with 23, alongside Andrei Arlovski, and holds 16 finishes, second only to Miller.
In recognition of his legendary career, Cerrone was inducted into the modern wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in March 2023.
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