UFC president Dana White isn’t happy about the lack of respect that is being shown to Donald Cerrone in the lead-up to his UFC 246 main event against Conor McGregor.

We’re now less than two weeks away from McGregor’s return to the Octagon where he will face off against the aforementioned Cerrone in a welterweight bout. While many fans are questioning the Irishman’s decision to come back at 170 pounds, the overriding feeling is one of excitement as he prepares to put on his gloves and compete for the first time since his UFC 229 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, while a lot of the talk is surrounding McGregor, Dana White has picked up on the fact that a lot of people are dismissing his opponent Donald Cerrone before the fight has even taken place.

During a recent interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White had the following to say.

”We’re getting through this one first, we’re getting through the Cowboy fight,” White said in reference to McGregor’s next opponent after Cerrone (via MMA Mania). “And the level of disrespect shown to Cowboy through this whole thing? Apparently people forgot that Cowboy’s lost two in a row before and come back and gone on unbelievable runs. Let’s not count Cowboy out.”

Cerrone’s head kick alone is probably enough to plant a seed of doubt into the mind of even the most optimistic Conor McGregor fan, regardless of what “Cowboy” has done in his last few fights.

Before the two losses against Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, two of the best lightweight fighters in the world, Cerrone put together a great run that saw him beat Mike Perry, Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta in a period of just six months.

At the age of 36 he’s still going strong, and he isn’t the kind of man that should be underestimated.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/6/2020.