An illness almost knocked Donald Cerrone off the UFC Singapore card.
Earlier today (June 23), “Cowboy” took on Leon Edwards. The bout headlined UFC Singapore in Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Cerrone and “Rocky” ended up engaging in a close five-round battle.
In the end, Edwards was given the nod via unanimous decision. The bout was close enough to the point that all three judges only had Edwards winning by one round. With the win, Edwards is expected to move up to at least the 11th spot on the UFC welterweight rankings, while “Cowboy” will surely slide down.
During his post-fight interview with Dan Hardy, Cerrone revealed he had an illness. During the post-fight press conference, he talked about just how close he was to pulling out (via MMAFighting.com):
“This is the first time in my career that I’ve ever almost called Dana White and said, ‘I’m not coming to work today.’ And then I looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Man, you’re not that guy. Just go.’ But that had nothing to do with the way I fought. I’m proud of myself actually for getting in there and fighting, so I’m happy, I don’t have any remorse. I don’t think I lost any stock, so all good.”
Cerrone has now gone 1-4 in his last five outings. It’s the worst skid in “Cowboy’s” professional mixed martial arts career, but it isn’t all bad news. While Cerrone was finished by Jorge Masvidal and Darren Till, he had close encounters with former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and rising 170-pounder Edwards. “Cowboy” still has plenty of fight left and doesn’t appear to have plans to hang up his gloves.
Where do you think Donald Cerrone goes from here?
