Donald Cerrone prefers to do his talking inside the cage.
While the hard-charging lightweight is a champion where colorful soundbites are concerned, the surging contender typically steers away from beef in the pre-fight build-up. This is due in large part to “Cowboy’s” willingness to fight anyone, anywhere at anytime—a notion he’s backed up on more than a few occasions. When a fighter like Cerrone is down to throw leather and open to mix it up with all-comers at any turn, that makes social media trash-talking and lobbing verbal grenades carry a different type of weight.
Then again, his current seven-fight winning streak and elevated profile in the lightweight ranks does make him an appealing target to some, and undefeated Dagestan-born phenom Khabib Nurmagomedov is at the front of that particular line.
Immediately following the Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter’s victory over Benson Henderson at Fight Night 59 back in January, “The Eagle” took to his Twitter account to jockey for a fight with Cerrone. It didn’t take long for the Albuquerque transplant to accept the bout, and the two top-ranked lightweights are slated to handle their business at UFC 187 on May 23 in Las Vegas. Yet, while the date for the fight is set for the UFC’s annual Memorial Day event, the American Kickboxing Academy representative hasn’t slowed down on taunting Cerrone over social media platforms.
Nurmagomedov has continued his online assault in the build-up to their showdown at UFC 187, and his efforts have not gone unnoticed by Cerrone. The former WEC veteran recently spoke to MMA Junkie and talked about turning his annoyance into added motivation that he will use to derail the 26-year-old Nurmagomedov at UFC 187.
“I will give Khabib everything I’ve got, I promise that. I will leave nothing in the f****** cage. The (Benson) Henderson fight, I left a lot out there. He’s really getting under my skin. He’s doing a good job of talking sh** on Twitter and trying to get under me, and it’s working. So, I’m stalking that up and I’m going to come f****** unglued.
“There’s nothing secret I’m going to do. I fight the same (every time). I’m going to come out slow and I’m going to f****** kick ass.”
Although every fight is important when competing at the highest level of the sport, Cerrone‘s upcoming bout with Nurmagomedov will come with high stakes intact. The 31-year-old Colorado native is currently in the midst of the most impressive run of his career as he’s notched seven consecutive victories inside the Octagon. While Cerrone is certainly no stranger to lengthy winning streaks, his current push up the divisional ladder is easily the most noteworthy stretch of his career due to the caliber of competition he’s knocked off in consecutive fashion.
Cerrone‘s climb up the 155-pound ranks has been motivated by the versatile striker earning his long-awaited shot at UFC gold. A shot at the lightweight title has hovered in the balance on two previous occasions for Cerrone, but he was ultimately turned back in bouts with Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis respectively.
Nevertheless, Cerrone certainly appears to have found his stride in big fights, and a victory over Nurmagomedov would make his bid for a title shot difficult to deny. While making his opponent pay for his trash-talking has provided some additional inspiration for Cerrone, getting to compete for the lightweight strap is his ultimate motivator. He wants to sit on top of the divisional mountain, and a win over the highly touted Russian finally give him the chance to do so.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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