It’s hard to trust UFC retirements these days.
Case and point: Donald Cerrone.
After eleven years and six straight losses, Donald Cerrone had finally put down the gloves at UFC 276. Though Cerrone had never won a UFC belt, he was considered a fan favorite due to his likable personality and warrior spirit within the octagon. The UFC welterweight finished off his career with an impressive record of 36 wins and 16 losses.
But fighters rarely hold their retirements these days.
Masdival is gearing up for a return. And so is Cerrone. The “Cowboy” first announced his comeback back in October and the 41-year-old is looking to get four more wins to have a UFC record of 50.
"I'm chasing greatness 50 [Zuffa] fights," Cerrone wrote on Instagram. "Not only do I want a win. I want a finish. I want a bonus. Most wins in UFC history. Most finishes. Most bonuses. Most walks to that cage.
It didn’t seem that Dana White was all that interested in seeing him return when news got around at first.
"I hate it," White said of Cerrone's plan to come out of retirement at the Contender Series post-fight press conference. "Love him, hate that. He retired. For what? What's left to prove? If you want to make money, let's figure something else out."
"Guys retire, they retire for a reason. They retire because they know it's over. I think that, not just this sport, but any professional sport, is hard to walk away from. Not just the money, that's obviously a very hard part of it, but, the feeling of walking out of that tunnel, the feeling of getting in the cage, and the place is packed, and everybody... Every time we're at a show. When you show 'Cowboy' Cerrone on the screen, the place goes nuts. I mean, he's beloved. He's beloved because the guy goes to war, and he's been in wars for years, and it's time to not go to war anymore, man. There's nothing left to prove for him."
But now it’s been made official that Cerrone is coming back to war as he’s in the UFC testing pool. The UFC star confirmed the news himself on The Pacman Jones Show and is eyeing a June or July 2025 return date.
I guess he figured out a way to change Dana’s mind. Cerrone hasn’t won a fight in five years, but he'll be aiming to go into the middleweight division and that’s not an easy one to go into; you’ve got guys like Khazmat Chimaev, Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, and of course, the UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis competing at 185.
But from the sounds of it, Cerrone isn’t aiming to be the next middleweight champion. He wants two more fights so he’ll have 50. Donald has competed in both the UFC and WEC, and currently has 48 fights on his resume. We'll see what kind of fights White gives the future Hall of Famer.