You’d be hard pushed to find two tougher groups of people than MMA fighters and professional bull riders, but what happens when you put them together in the cage?
Colby Yates, Brendon Clark and Ross Coleman of the PBR decided to find out in 2012 when they met up with UFC stars Donald Cerrone and Mike Pyle to undergo some MMA training and sparring.
’Cowboy’ Cerrone was the perfect person to welcome the trio to the world of mixed martial arts as he is himself a huge fan of bull riding.
In fact, the extreme sports enthusiast once considered a career in the sport himself, spending a couple of years going from town-to-town participating in rodeos in his youth, and even becoming a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
In the end, Cerrone turned to MMA instead though, and he gave Colby Yates a taste of why he’s one of the best in the business when he knocked him clean off his feet with a leg kick during their sparring session.
When he kicked me it hurt like hell, just like a bull did, PBR ‘Ring Of Honor’ recipient Yates admitted afterward.
It was all in good fun though and there was clearly a great deal of respect and camaraderie between the stars.
For me this is an honor, to have the guys that I watch, the sport that I love – to be teaching them how to do this sport that I also love – I mean how cool is that? Cerrone enthused.
Clark and Coleman were also enthused, comparing Cerrone to PBR superstar ‘Bushwacker’, who is considered the Michael Jordan of their sport.
UFC veteran Pyle also grew up around bull riding and noted how fearless the PBR stars were during their training session.
They were eager to get in and spar with ‘Cowboy, they didn’t have a hesitation, Pyle remarked. Like, ‘you wanna spar?’ they said, ‘Yeah! Let’s do it!’
While they were no match for the pro-fighters in the cage, Pyle was humble enough to point out that, they can practice around with what we’re doing, but I can’t go and do what they are doing, so that makes it kind of special.
These guys have got no fear and I respect that.
