UFC fighter Donald Cerrone retired from the UFC after a second-round submission loss to Jim Muller in 2022. However, after 48 octagon appearances, the fighter is about to make a comeback.
In a recent social media post, Cerrone shared a clip of him working out with his wrestling gear alongside jui-jitsu star Gordon Ryan. Accompanying the post was a message to his fans saying he would like to round up his fights to 50.
“I want to go back and get two more fights. When I retired, I told you I was getting my hair done and get on steroids. The number 50 [has] been sitting at my mind for a while..,The last two years taking TRT and a bunch of peptides. Now we got a protocol for all you people that, ‘Oh what if you get on you can never come off?’ Well, I now have to come off and piss clean. Fight in a few months. So watch this.”
“Cowboy” holds quite a few spots in the record book and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023. Although the fighter disclosed his plans to fight in some month and make a grand entry, UFC CEO Dana White is not pleased with this idea.
“I hate it. I hate it,” White said at his post-Contender Series media scrum on Tuesday. “Love him, hate that.
“He retired. For what? What’s left to prove? If you want to make money, let’s figure something else out. I hate it. When guys retire, they retire for a reason. They don’t just retire because — they retire because they know it’s over. They know it is.
“Not just this sport but any professional sport, is hard to walk away from. Not just the money — that’s obviously a very hard part of it — but the feeling of walking out of that tunnel, the feeling of getting in the cage and the place is packed. Look at every time we’re at a show and we show Cowboy Cerrone on the screen, the place goes nuts. He’s beloved. He’s beloved because the guy goes to war, and he’s been in wars for years, and it’s time to not go to war anymore. There’s nothing left to prove for him.”
Although Cerrone had a good run in his career and is considered one of the most decorated UFC fighters in history, the final lap of his career was underwhelming. The fighter lost six of his last seven fights and showed no signs of getting back on track. White says that if Cerrone’s return is due to financial issues, then he believes he can work something out with him.
“I’d rather work something else out with him, figure out another way,” White said. “If it’s about money, then he can do something else. Because he ain’t going to fight for the rest of his life and he’s always going to need to make money. So let’s figure that out now instead of three years from now.”
“Cerrone shouldn’t think about fighting again,” White said. “Cerrone needs to think about what’s next. He should have been thinking about it two years ago but apparently he didn’t, and he needs to. But we’re here for him. We love Cerrone. We’ll help in any way we can. I don’t want to see him get punched in the face anymore.”
Although many fighters have been enthusiastic about the 41-year-old’s return, White doesn’t believe the fighter should return to the octagon. The CEO is concerned about Cerrone’s health and doesn’t plan to let the fighter return just yet.
