Over the last few months, the fight world has been abuzz about a potential fight between Donald Cerrone and Conor McGregor. Both fighters seemed to want the fight, UFC President Dana White was on board, and of course, every fight fan with a pulse was eager to see it happen.
Unfortunately, it now sounds as though the fight could be off the table.
Dana White recently claimed that Conor McGregor wants a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov instead — though Nurmagomedov’s manager has offered a different viewpoint. White also says that the UFC is now looking at a fight between Cowboy and Al Iaquinta.
“Yeah, so the fight just didn’t happen,” White recently told ESPN. “You know Conor… What Conor McGregor really wants is to fight Khabib. That’s the fight Conor really wants.”
“So we are looking at another opponent (for Cerrone).” White concluded. “We are looking at maybe him and ‘Raging Al’.”
Speaking to ESPN, Donald Cerrone explained what’s keeping this fight from being made. Just as Joe Rogan recently claimed, Cerrone says the UFC wants his fight with Conor McGregor to co-headline a pay-per-view.
Apparently, McGregor isn’t interested in playing second-fiddle to anybody.
“Conor won’t fight unless it’s a main event,” Cerrone said. “I don’t know if it’s an ego thing or a status thing for him. I don’t give a s—. I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, and I stand by that all the time. I guess he’s a prima donna and only takes main event spots, I don’t know.”
“We were all waiting on Conor for April, and he said he wasn’t ready,” Cerrone added later. “I don’t know how in one breath you can say, ‘I’ll fight anyone, anytime, anywhere,’ and the next one say, ‘I’m not ready for that one.’
“I’m more annoyed that he went radio silent after putting it out. I get it, you want to stay relevant by putting it out there, but then you can’t go radio silent. Sack up, b—-. Sign the f—ing paper.”
Needless to say, Donald Cerrone wants this fight with Conor McGregor to happen. The question of whether it’s a main or co-main event is outside his jurisdiction.
“I call the UFC and tell them what to do, they tell me to shut the f— up and go sit in the corner,” Cerrone said. “I don’t have any say on that stuff. What I do know is July is the latest I’m fighting. That’s the f—ing latest. I will not wait longer than that.”
Do you think we’ll see Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone fight this year?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/7/2019.