You may have seen casual fighter interviews before, but you've never seen a fighter interview as casual as Donald Cerrone relaxed in a chair on his cattle ranch in Albuquerque, N.M., microphone duct taped to his chest while he talks about fighting for the world title in between pounding back Budweiser.
Cerrone appeared on "Inside MMA" on Friday (Aug. 21, 2015) to talk about his upcoming Lightweight title fight against Raphael dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 17 on Dec. 19, 2015, at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
The 32-year-old said his threat to move to 170 pounds may have helped secure the title fight he's been trying to get against dos Anjos since defeating John Makdessi at UFC 187 back in May.
"Every day I would call Joe (Silva) and Dana (White) and say, 'hey, man, if I don't get a fight soon I'm going to 70.' And they'd be like, 'patience, patience.' And then yesterday I was talking to Joe and said, 'I've had enough, I'm going to 70, I can't take it anymore.' He goes, 'just bear with me,' and then I found out right about the time ya'll did."
Cerrone enjoys being a busy fighter, having competed nine times in the past two years, which is well above the average fighter's workload. It was nearly 24 months ago that he lost to dos Anjos via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: "Condit vs. Kampmann 2."
He told "Inside MMA" he's learned from that fight and will be prepared for the rematch, which will be five rounds instead of three.
"I started slow. That's what I always do, I went out there and started slow and you know he capitalized very well. He hit me hard. Maybe just start a little faster. You know we got five rounds, man. Cardio is my thing and five rounds with me is going to be a scary thing for him."
Are you excited yet? How do you see the rematch playing out?
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