UFC legend Donald Cerrone might remain in the spotlight for a little longer. Recently, he found himself in a sticky situation after making certain comments about Russian Muslim fighters on his YouTube channel. Things took a new turn after an old video surfaced of him talking about Khabib Nurmagomedov.
In the video, Donald Cerrone talks about former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The conversation happened before the Dagestani became the lightweight champion. Cerrone went on a rant about how the Dagestani repeatedly pulled out of their fight.
Khabib, he’s pull out of a fight five times with me. He has signed the contract give times. A lot of these guys, they don’t fight….Why wouldn’t you wanna fight? F*** him, whatever.Â
Donald Cerrone via defunct MMA InTake video from 2017
In the previous YouTube video that went viral, Cerrone talked about how he liked Tim Kennedy targeting Russian Muslim fighters. Kennedy is an army veteran who later fought in major promotions such as Strikeforce and UFC. Both Cerrone and Kennedy used to train at the JacksonWink MMA Academy. According to the fighters, that’s where they beat the Russian Muslim fighters while training.Â
Donald Cerrone had a long UFC career where he faced some big names, including Jorge Masvidal, Conor McGregor, and Justin Gaethje. However, the ‘Cowboy’ never got to battle it out against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Cerrone believes it has something to do with the UFC CEO Dana White.
Donald Cerrone reveals Dana White did not make him fight Khabib NurmagomedovÂ
During Donald Cerrone’s prime years, Khabib Nurmagomedov was on the path to becoming the undisputed champion in the lightweight division. Cerrone always wanted to fight the ‘Eagle’ and frequently asked Dana White to make the fight.Â
Donald Trump on Dana White not pairing him against Khabib Nurmagomedov (via X)In an interview with MMA Fighting, Cerrone revealed that he had even signed a contract to fight Nurmagomedov, and it was a done deal. However, something happened, and Dana White called off the fight.
I called Dana, said to fight. Dana asked me why, I said because I want to do it. He said, ‘ok done deal’. Send me the contact. Khabib got the contract. Dana returned by call and said ‘This fight doesn’t make sense.’
Donald Cerrone via UFC 197 media day
Cerrone was never a big fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov and wanted to settle the business inside the octagon. The UFC booked the bout during Khabib’s early days in the UFC. For some reason or the other, it never materialized.
Ultimately, Dana White did not want to book the fight and booked different opponents for Cerrone and Nurmagomedov. Regardless of it, Cerrone still had an impressive career in the promotion and was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.
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