In 2016, fan favorite UFC fighter Donald Cerrone made waves in the UFC’s welterweight division as he kicked off the year by making the jump from 155 pounds to 170 pounds to fight Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira at ‘UFC Fight Night: Pittsburgh’. Cerrone picked up a Performance of the Night bonus as he submitted Oliveira in the very first round as he made his successful welterweight debut.

Cerrone kept the momentum throughout the rest of the year as he went 3-0 at 170 pounds, landing himself at the #5 spot on the UFC’s welterweight rankings after picking up TKO wins over Patrick Cote, Rick Story, and Mat Brown, picking up two ‘Performance of the Night’ bonuses in the process.

Now, ahead of Cerrone’s ‘UFC Fight Night: Denver’ scrap with Jorge Masivdal this weekend, Cerrone has revealed his intentions of capturing UFC gold by the end of 2017 in an interview with MMAJunkie:

“I’m going to go whip Masvidal’s ass, call out one of these top contenders or call out (welterweight champion Tyron) Woodley, and say, ‘Let’s dance, baby,’” Cerrone said on the “UFC Road to the Octagon” special for UFC on FOX 23. “I’m going to go get this belt in 2017. I’m coming. It’s mine. We’re just getting warmed up.”

While Donald Cerrone is known for his ‘anyone, anywhere, anytime’ attitude, he admits that he now sees the importance of holding UFC gold to cement his legacy:

“The title probably means more to my team than it does to me,” Cerrone said. “I used to think, ‘I’m here to fight.’ I didn’t have the same mentality that I do now. I feel a little more mature in the game, a little different.”

In regards to his upcoming opponent, Cerrone admits he isn’t all too familiar with Masivdal, but he also doesn’t care.

“I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen Masvidal fight,” Cerrone said. “I think he’s like a boxer, wrestler. Pretty good jiu-jitsu. Sounds like he’s pretty good at striking. I don’t know how his wrestling is. I’m going to bet I’m better at all three.”

“I’m a winner; that’s what I like to do,” Cerrone said. “But at home in front of everybody? I ain’t losing. No way, no how. I’m coming hard. I can’t wait.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/25/2017