Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone won eight UFC fights in a row at lightweight, but came up short vs. Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on Fox 17 on December 19, 2015. He then moved up to welterweight, winning four in a row, including three performance bonuses. Now, however, he’s on a three-fight losing streak, and appeared recently on The Fighter and the Kid podcast and discussed what’s next, naming the number of years before he retires.
I’m there five years, said Cerrone, as transcribed byJed Meshew for MMA Fighting. I’m going back to 155. I’m only 175, I’ve been waking up at 175 every day so it’s like pffft, I’m fine. I’m more focused. At 170, I can just not train and f*** off. I put more into it at 155 so let’s do it, let’s have a couple more fights. I probably won’t take 20 a year anymore. I’m probably gonna take it down a little bit.
His last fight was a brutal first round KO loss to Darren Till, who entered the Octagon at around 200 pounds. Cerrone said he didn’t even know who Till was.
It wasn’t any disrespect to him, I just honestly had no idea, said Cerrone. “But I have a very clear understanding who Darren f***ing Till is now. … He was a big boy. He hit really hard, right in my nose, and I was like, ‘Don’t do it again! Not in the face! Not in the face!’
Cerrone’s coaches and his boss UFC president Dana White have suggested for some time that he slow down the pace. Hopefully that, a return to lightweight provide a career turnaround.
