Donald Cerrone is known for fighting anybody, any place, any time, but he says that just days before his UFC 246 fight with Conor McGregor he had a strong feeling that he just didn’t want to compete.
“Donald showed up, Cowboy wasn’t there,” Cerrone told ESPN with regards to that fight. “The wrong guy showed up, couldn’t get going, couldn’t get excited, couldn’t get fired up, didn’t want to be there. Biggest fight, all the attention, my time to shine, I didn’t want to be there. (Expletive) it was crazy man. I don’t know why, I don’t how, I don’t know how to change that, but it sucks man.
“Sometimes I show up there and I’m f***ing ready, I’m fired up and I’m ready to go, sometimes I get there and I’m like ‘I don’t even want to be here.’ So, don’t know, no idea, wish I had the answer. Two days before the fight I was f***ing like, it was just hard. When I showed up there that morning, it was like ‘Man, f**k’ I just wasn’t feeling it.”
In a seperate interview, Cerrone spoke about how he’s largely shaken off the ill-effects of that loss and is ready to move forward with his fighting career.
“My brain was definitely rattled from the ass-whooping I took in 40 seconds,” Cerrone told mmafighting.com. “But I feel good. My eye healed up enough.
My heart is still hurt, but that’s what makes it a man’s sport. We go in there and figure it out.
“That’s the only thing you can do is to suck it up and keep moving. I can’t dwell on that.
Can’t sit and worry about all that. I had my moment. I let it go, but at the end of the day, I got in there and did it. I stood with one of the best and I’m proud.
“I’m proud of what I’ve become in the sport. I’m proud as a father. It’s what I do. I give people hope and I keep fighting. That’s how we do it.”
Now Cerrone is preparing to fight Anthony Pettis at UFC 249 on May 9th, and he’s looking forward to the opportunity to try to get back to winning ways.
“Losing sucks, I don’t care who you are. So it’s absolutely something I want to get back. Looking forward to this fight.
“This is my wheelhouse. Taking fights on short notice, when no else is prepared and mentally I’m the strongest. I feel good. I feel hungry. Ready to go out there and do it.”
