Cerrone: Wow, I didn’t know I was sitting on MMAAA board

Last week a group of five fighters led by Bellator MMA founder Bjorn Rebney announced the formation of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association (MMAAA). Their goal is to organize fighters and radically increase the share of income that goes to the talent. The fighter group was comprised of Georges St-Pierre, Cain Velasquez, Tim Kennedy, TJ Dillashaw, and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.

UFC president Dana White expressed disappointment in Cerrone. White said he thought the relationship between himself and the fighter was such that ‘Cowboy’ would have called him first.

During a UFC 206 post open workout media scrum today, Cerrone said there may be a degree of misunderstanding.

“As far as the Association goes man, Georges and Tim called me and asked me to be part of it,” said Cerrone, as transcribed by Chuck Mindenhall for MMA Fighting. “I didn’t know I was sitting on a board. That kind of took me by surprise, sitting there like, ‘oh wow.’ I spoke to Dana today on the phone. He’s coming to town, and we’re going to go out to dinner and talk. There’s a lot of things I think this sport needs, you know, retirement pension, health care, things I think we need.”

“I wasn’t sitting there saying, ‘we’re moving forward today, we’re going on strike, we need more money. That wasn’t coming out of my mouth at all. There were a couple of people that were there that I don’t plan on working with and being a part of, not mentioning any names. I was there mostly just, not saying I’m leading a board or I’m sitting on a board, but more voicing my opinion of what this sport needs.

“Moving forward, I’m still going to stand strong with those and say this is what I believe we need. I believe as a whole we need health care, we need some kind of pension for retirement. The UFC has been nothing but great to me. I can’t complain, they give me what I want. And like Dana said, I called him and he helped me out. That’s true, man. I was in a bind, he got the best lawyers you can pay, and saved my ass.”

Cerrone was asked how the conversation with White went.

“He said, ‘listen kid, you can do anything you want,'” said Cerrone. :We have a good relationship him and I and he’s right I probably should have called him and said, ‘hey man, I’m going to do this,’ instead of getting back-handed in the face.”

Donald Cerrone fights Matt Brown at UFC 206 on Saturday.