Donald Cerrone reveals he took the easy way out against Conor McGregor.
UFC fan favorite Donald Cerrone has revealed ahead of UFC 274 that he didn’t want to leave the locker room and face Conor McGregor in their welterweight bout at UFC 246.
‘Cowboy’ did end up making the walk to the Octagon but he suffered a first-round TKO defeat in what was one of his worst performances in the UFC to date.
Cerrone admits he choked under pressure and was not prepared to take on McGregor in front of millions of fans on the world’s biggest stage.
“On the Conor McGregor fight, the biggest eyes, millions watching, my moment, and I didn’t wanna be there. I cannot answer that any clearer. It was such a strange feeling,” Cerrone told ESPN ahead of UFC 274 (h/t BJPenn.com).
Cowboy reveals he didn’t want to be in the Octagon with McGregor back in 2020 #UFC274
(via @bokamotoespn) pic.twitter.com/xkweycVTBM
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 5, 2022
“When I was in the back, I didn’t even wanna go out there. So when Conor gave me the door, I took it. That was my inner bitch. I took the door, let’s get out of here. It’s that easy. It’s that easy in a fight to get out, and I took it. I have to live with that every day.”
Cerrone will return to the Octagon in what could be his final fight in the UFC when he takes on fellow lightweight veteran Joe Lauzon on the UFC 274 main card on Saturday, May 7, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.