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in: Lightweight fighters, Fight of the Night winners, Knockout of the Night winners,
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Donald Cerrone

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Donald Cerrone

Donald 'The Cowboy' Cerrone is a retired fighter who competed at welterweight and lightweight in the UFC and, before that, he was a former WEC lightweight contender as well.

Inside the WEC[]

He most recently faced Jamie Varner in a non-title rematch of their first bout. He reportedly made death threats towards Varner, and expressed his hopes that the fight's result would be Varner becoming the "first death in MMA." He also called Varner a "fag." Cerrone backed-up his shit-talk with a dominant unanimous decision victory. The duo was rumored to have a rubber match within a few months of their second fight. Both men agreed to the fight. Instead, Cerrone was changed to face Chris Horodecki instead.

Donald Cerrone was at an MMA event in New Mexico on the night of October 30th, and ended up brawling backstage with heavyweight fighter Marcus Sursa. Both guys received cuts which led to Sursa having to pull out of his main event fight at the show. Cerrone was dating an ex-girlfriend of Sursa’s and that led to words being exchanged between the two fighters. Fists then started flying, with the one hundred and fifty-five pound Cerrone reported to have opened up a laceration on Sursa’s eye and got a burst lip in return before the brawl was broken up. As a result of the cut Sursa had to withdraw from his scheduled fight. So far neither fighter has commented on the brawl. Luckily for Cerrone, there was still well over six weeks until the Horodecki bout so any injuries he sustained in the bout didn't prevent him from fighting.

Cerrone defeated Horodecki via second-round triangle choke at the final WEC event and headed into the UFC with a solid two-fight win streak.

After the fight, he called out longtime UFC lightweight Cole Miller. His stated reasons for the call-out were that Cole had defeated Cerrone's friend, Leonard Garcia, a few years before.

The Cowboy Rides In The UFC[]

He instead made his UFC debut replacing an injured Sam Stout against Paul Kelly. Cerrone defeated Kelly via second round rear-naked choke submission.

He was next set to face veteran Mac Danzig. Unfortunately, Danzig was injured a little over a month before the bout. He was replaced by newcomer Vagner Rocha. Cerrone dominated Rocha over fifteen minutes, punishing Rocha's left leg with kicks. He earned a unanimous decision victory over the newcomer Rocha.

Cerrone was next set to replace an injured John Makdessi against Paul Taylor. Taylor himself was then injured and replaced by exciting young prospect Charles Oliveira. The fight between Cerrone and Oliveira was sure to be nuts. Cerrone defeated Oliveira via impressive first round TKO.

Cerrone next stepped in to replace Sam Stout once more against striker Dennis Siver. Before the bout against the "one-trick pony" Siver, Cerrone called out featherweight veteran Nam Phan. He stated that he wanted to "shut up" Phan and would drop to 145 after beating Siver if necessary. Cerrone defeated Siver via impressive first round rear-naked choke submission, practically sealing the deal for a lightweight title shot if he so chose.

Cerrone didn't wait long for another fight and it wasn't against Nam Phan. The very next day after defeating Siver and gaining no injuries, Cerrone signed for another fight -- his fifth in 2011 -- against Nate Diaz. The fight was considered a lightweight title eliminator. Diaz put on a brilliant performance showing that he was just as good at that famous "Stockton slap" style of boxing that his older brother Nick Diaz had previously perfected. Diaz possibly broke Cerrone's jaw, landing ruthless combination after combination, overwhelming Cerrone with volume punches and making him look like an amateur. Diaz couldn't secure the finish against a tough Cerrone; however, he picked up a dominant unanimous decision victory.

Cerrone was next rumored to face veteran Yves Edwards. Instead he signed to face heavy-handed veteran Jeremy Stephens. He defeated Stephens via a steady unanimous decision, next facing friend Melvin Guillard soon afterwards. After a wild slugfest, Cerrone knocked Guillard out to earn Knockout and Fight of the Night honors.

Cerrone next signed to face WEC rival Anthony Pettis. Pettis defeated Cerrone via first round technical knockout with a brutal kick to the ribs. It was the first time that Cerrone had been knocked out.

Cerrone next faced UFC newcomer, boxer and Strikeforce veteran KJ Noons. Cerrone outstruck and bloodied Noons on the ground with elbows and punches en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory.

Cerrone quickly signed to fight fellow contender Rafael Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos defeated Cerrone via an exciting upset unanimous decision.

Cerrone next signed to fight Evan Dunham for November 2013. Cerrone talked about dropping down to featherweight win or lose after the fight. He defeated Dunham impressively via second round triangle choke submission.

Cerrone stayed at lightweight quickly signing to fight BJJ world champion Adriano Martins in Chicago in January 2014. Cerrone knocked out Martins via a highlight reel first round headkick knockout.

Cerrone signed just a few weeks later to fight dangerous striker Edson Barboza, stating that he wanted to fight a record six times in the UFC during 2014. Cerrone dropped Barboza with a jab in the first round before choking him out with a rear-naked choke submission.

Cerrone next signed to fight veteran Jim Miller in a five-round main event. Cerrone knocked out Miller with an impressive second round high kick knockout.

Cerrone then welcomed former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to the UFC defeating Alvarez via an exciting unanimous decision.

Cerrone next signed in October 2014 to fight undefeated prospect Myles Jury in January 2015. Cerrone dominated a hapless Jury en route to a unanimous decision.

Cerrone demanded another fight immediately and received another fight two days after the Jury fight when he stepped in to replace Eddie Alvarez for a third fight against rival and former UFC/WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson on only thirteen days' notice and only fifteen days after the Jury fight. Cerrone defeated Henderson via a very close unanimous decision.

He then fought John Makdessi breaking Makdessi's jaw in the second round to win by TKO injury.

Fighting for the Title[]

Cerrone next received his long-awaited shot at the UFC lightweight title in a rematch against rival Rafael Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos unfortunately blitzed Cerrone en route to a sixty-six second TKO.

Move to Welterweight[]

Cerrone wasted very little time in hopping back into action as he moved up in weight to welterweight to fight contender Tim Means. Means unfortunately failed a pre-fight drug test and was replaced by prospect Alex Oliveira who just so happened to share a 'Cowboy' nickname with Cerrone.

Cerrone defeated Oliveira via a first round triangle choke submission before rattling off TKO victories over established welterweights Patrick Cote and Rick Story in the third and second rounds respectively. Cote in particular was an impressive victory for Cerrone as it was the first time that Cote had been officially stopped by strikes.

A mere few weeks after the Story victory Cerrone signed for one of the biggest opportunities of his career against recently dethroned welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in the UFC's first event at Madison Square Garden. With a victory Cerrone would no doubt be in the conversation for a shot at the UFC welterweight title. Unfortunately Lawler was forced quite quickly to pull out of the fight leaving Cerrone very disappointed.

Fortunately contender and TUF winner Kelvin Gastelum stepped up to replace Lawler. Just prior to the weigh-ins for the fight Gastelum unfortunately announced that he wasn't going to be able to make weight for the fight and the fight was canceled. A disappointed and annoyed Cerrone wanted to fight a replacement on one day's notice and stay on the historic Madison Square Garden card but it was not to be.

That same day Cerrone was rescheduled to fight brawler Matt Brown on the next numbered event UFC 206 in Toronto. After an exciting back-and-forth fight Cerrone knocked Brown out with a head kick seconds into the third and final round. With the victory Cerrone entered the history books as holding the record of most head kick wins in UFC history.

Cerrone wasted little time after the Brown victory in next signing to fight fellow former lightweight Jorge Masvidal in Denver, January 2017, around a month after the Brown fight. Masvidal TKOed Cerrone, in Cerrone's hometown of sorts, in the second round. It was a devastating loss for an undoubtedly resurgent Cowboy.

He next signed to fight former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, in what many fans eagerly anticipated as a guaranteed war. The fight for the most part delivered, and was a close contest. Lawler was awarded the unanimous decision victory. It was the second loss in a row at welterweight for Lawler, dashing his title hopes definitively.

Cerrone next signed to fight the undefeated, little-known British prospect Darren Till in Poland; Till beat up and TKOed Cerrone in the very first round. His third loss in a row...

Cerrone next signed to fight fellow former lightweight Yancy Medeiros, TKOing Medeiros with seconds left in an entertaining first round battle.

He then faced another British prospect Leon Edwards in Kailang, Singapore, losing a unanimous decision to Edwards that was clear-cut.

He next fought brawler and former teammate Mike Perry, submitting Perry with an armbar and injuring Perry's arm in the process, towards the end of the very first round.

Return to Lightweight[]

Cerrone next returned to lightweight, opting to take on undefeated young Alexander Hernandez, TKOing Hernandez in the second round.

He next fought recent title contender Al Iaquinta, dominating Iaquinta en route to a twenty-five minute non-title fight, unanimous decision.

He then faced former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and the two went to war with the fight being stopped between the second and third round by a doctor and Cerrone's corner, ultimately a TKO corner stoppage victory for Ferguson, 5:00 R2... A good fight that lived up to its hype.

Cerrone looked to quickly rebound versus former WSOF lightweight champion and former teammate Justin Gaethje, losing via a grisly first round TKO.

Back to Welterweight for the Money Fight[]

Cerrone next signed to fight the returning troubled 'superstar,' Conor McGregor losing via a controversial and iffy round one TKO. Many thought Cerrone MIGHT have taken a dive for some money... but Cerrone viewed these rumors as disgusting and said so.

Fights[]

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