It looks like Donald
Cerrone will receive another opportunity to step into the
Octagon.
UFC president Dana White confirmed to
TSN that the popular veteran will get another fight in the
promotion following a first-round technical knockout loss to
Alex
Morono in the UFC on ESPN 24 co-main event this past Saturday
night. Cerrone was originally slated to face Diego
Sanchez in a 170-pound bout on the card, but plans changed when
“The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner was released from the promotion
shortly before the event.
“‘Cowboy’ again steps up, Diego falls out of the fight, he steps up
and takes a last-minute replacement, co-main event. What he wants
to do – he accepted the Diego fight because they both said they
would fight at 170,” White said. “He wants to move down to [155]
and get another fight, and I’m going to let him do that.”
Cerrone is winless in his last six UFC appearances and has been
finished in four of those fights. White confirmed that the BMF
Ranch founder’s next bout would be a must-win situation. After the
loss to Morono on Saturday, Cerrone said he would
prefer to exit the sport on his own terms — and he isn’t ready
to be done just yet.
“Absolutely not. No way. I’ll never go out like this,” Cerrone said
in a post-fight interview with ESPN. “I will, 100 percent I’ll know
and I’ll come in and s—t hopefully I go in whipping ass right off.
There’s no way I’d end like this. I couldn’t let my legacy end like
this.
“But I’ll call the boss man and say ‘hey man, I know it’s been a
rough couple years but when it’s time, let me bow out right.’”