Despite being an all-time fan-favorite, one of the knocks on Donald Cerrone over the years is whether or not the real “Cowboy” will show up inside the Octagon when it matters most. It’s something many of Cerrone’s opponents have questioned numerous times before.
And even “Cowboy” recently admitted to not always being at the top of his game, regardless how hard he tries to get into rhythm. In fact, this week he revealed that during his bout against Conor McGregor at UFC 246 this past January — the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career — the wrong guy showed up to the cage, admitting that once fight night rolled around he didn’t want to be there.
“Donald showed up, Cowboy wasn’t there,” Cerrone said during a recent interview with ESPN. “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,” he continued. “Shit 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.”
As a result, McGregor steamrolled right through “Cowboy,” knocking him out in just 40 seconds of the first round (see it here), making good on his much-anticipated return while sending Cerrone home with his third straight defeat.
“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.”
Perhaps Stephen A. Smith was onto something after all ...
While it’s obviously tough for the long-time veteran to make this revelation, he still has a stacked highlight reel that proves that when the real “Cowboy” does show up, he is one of the most devastating strikers in the game. Three straight losses, though, has given critics reason to ponder whether or not the best days for Cerrone, 37, are behind him.
That being said, “Cowboy” will look to silence those doubters by getting some much-desired revenge on Anthony Pettis at the upcoming UFC 249 pay-per-view (PPV) event on May 9, 2020, in Jacksonville, Florida.
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