UFC veteran Donald Cerrone is planning on 5 fights in 2016, whether there’s a title fight or not, and he’s definitely interested in taking on Conor McGregor.
We’re just one week away from the return of Donald Cerrone, who is just 2 months removed from his lightweight title fight defeat vs. Rafael dos Anjos in Orlando. The 32-year-old Cerrone will debut at welterweight against Alex Oliveira in a five-round main event, as Tim Means‘ potential USADA violation forced Cowboy vs. Means to become Cowboy vs. Cowboy.
Over the last month, most of the headlines surrounding Cerrone were centered around his Reebok outfitting policy violation in the dos Anjos bout. According to him, he was fined a significant amount of money for wearing an unauthorized patch (honoring his grandmother) on his trunks. He also stated that the UFC had threatened to prevent him from fighting if he broke the rules again.
Keeping that in mind, Cerrone addressed the situation in an interview with MMA Junkie, and clarified that the onus is on him for knowingly violating the uniform policy but going through with it anyway.
“I knew fair well that I was not allowed to wear that, and I knew I was going to get fined if I did. So I need to put that out there and say that I willingly knew I was (going to get fined), I just didn’t know it was going to be that much. You know what I’m saying? It was a lot. I figured a couple grand, sure, I’ll take the fine. It’s worth it for me. So I guess when I tweeted it out and said that Reebok took my money, it made them look guilty like I was a victim and it was their fault, when really, I knew before I did it, right? You get what I’m saying? I did it anyway, and then I got fined, and then I made it seem like, ‘Reebok’s f-cking me.’ And really, I f-cked’ myself.”
As a compromise, Cerrone has teamed up with Tim Kennedy to create t-shirts with the flag patch, and proceeds will benefit American troops.
The always active Cerrone, who fought only 3 times in 2015, is hoping that the Oliveira bout is the first of 5 Octagon appearances this year. He doesn’t care if there’s a title shot involved, he just wants to fight. On his radar? Conor McGregor, of course.
“I don’t even care; whatever they want to do,” Cerrone said. “It makes no difference to me. I’m not going to say no. But I’m not going to get out there and say, ‘My next fight, title fight. It’s my dream.’ I don’t care. I don’t give a sh-t. Give me Conor McGregor. I’ll fight that p-ssy. Other than that, I don’t care. Tell that dude to slow his f-cking roll. You can’t be just calling out 170-pounders. So, whatever. Enough of him.
UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Oliveira airs live on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, February 21st, with an earlier main card start time of 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.