Cerrone doesn’t balk at fighting unknown replacement
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone was really, really looking forward to fighting undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 187 on Saturday night at MGM Grand.
That’s why it was so difficult to hear the news last month that Nurmagomedov was injured and had to pull out of the fight.
“It was just like, ‘Damn it.’ It sucked,” Cerrone said Monday. “I almost went into tears.”
Nurmagomedov has drawn the ire of much of the lightweight division, Cerrone included, with his trash-talking and social media boasting. He has also backed it up in the cage and Cerrone knew handing Nurmagomedov his first defeat would almost assuredly give Cerrone the title shot he has been pursuing for several years.
Still, Cerrone didn’t for a second think twice about accepting a fight against a replacement opponent he had never heard of when UFC officials offered up John Makdessi.
He didn’t even ask his trainers or managers, who Cerrone said were taken aback by his decision to accept a fight against an opponent outside of the division’s top 15 with a vastly different style than that of Nurmagomedov.
“The people around me were like, ‘Cowboy, no. Why jeopardize your title shot?’” he said.
Cerrone said he had invested too much time, effort and money in his camp to not compete and collect a paycheck. He added that his lack of knowledge about his opponent shouldn’t be taken as an insult.
“I don’t watch tape on anyone and I’ve just never seen him fight live,” Cerrone said. “I don’t want to sound like I don’t have the time to look him up or whatever and I’m not saying it from like a, ‘Who is this guy?’ attitude.
“By no means am I not taking him serious. I just feel confident across the board in what I’m doing and that’s my only concern.”
He hopes that will be enough to carry him to an eighth-straight victory in the UFC and that elusive title shot.
Then, there’s the matter of Nurmagomedov, who Cerrone still hopes to take out at some point.
“We’ll fight him, for sure,” Cerrone said. “He ain’t going nowhere. He’s ranked high. He’ll heal up and I’ll be there waiting.”
SILVA WINS APPEAL — A Nevada district judge threw out the Nevada Athletic Commission’s lifetime ban of UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva, though the ruling was not completely in the fighter’s favor.
Ross Goodman, Silva’s attorney, had hoped to get the court to declare the commission did not have jurisdiction over the matter at all because Silva was not licensed to fight at the time he evaded a sample collector in 2014.
Because the UFC had already announced Silva’s fight and began promoting the event, the judge decided he fell under the NAC’s jurisdiction. The ruling stated, however, there was insufficient evidence to support a lifetime ban.
Barring appeals from either side, that likely means Silva will again be called in front of the commission for another disciplinary hearing on the matter.
The commission last week announced harsher penalties for athletes in combat sports who fail drug tests. Under the new rules, Silva would be subject to a lifetime ban because as a multiple offender. His attorney, however, is likely to argue the guidelines would not apply to Silva because his evasion of a collector occurred before the rules were enacted.
Silva admitted to the commission he fled from the collector because he had taken a banned diuretic.
EDGAR WANTS TITLE SHOT — Frankie Edgar believes a convincing victory over Urijah Faber in the main event of Saturday’s UFC card in Manila should be enough to earn him the opportunity to fight the winner of the upcoming featherweight title bout between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo.
“What’s next? I hope a title shot,” he said after winning all five rounds on the scorecards. “To go in there and dominate like I did, I think I earned that shot.”
If the strong performance wasn’t enough, Edgar had a backup plan to convince his boss to give him the opportunity.
“I was hoping Dana was here,” Edgar said of UFC president Dana White, who was not in attendance. “I was thinking about hijacking his jet on the way home and pouring honey in his ear or something like that.
“I’m going to have to call him when I get home.”
Edgar, a former lightweight champion, has now won four straight fights since dropping a decision to Aldo in a February 2013 title bout.
FIGHT WEEK — The UFC returns to Las Vegas with a pay-per-view card featuring a pair of title bouts on Saturday night at MGM Grand.
UFC 187 is headlined by a fight for the vacant light heavyweight title between Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier. Jon Jones was scheduled to fight Johnson at this event, but was stripped of his title after fleeing the scene of a traffic accident in Albuquerque, N.M. last month.
Also on the card, Chris Weidman will defend the middleweight belt against Vitor Belfort.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
