Donald Cerrone Explains Why He Skipped UFC on FOX 19

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Donald Cerrone (29-7 MMA, 16-4 UFC) spoke about why he ended up not fighting at UFC on FOX 19. His next fight is against Patrick Cote (23-9 MMA, 10-9 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 89. Here are highlights:

On Conor McGregor not wanting to do a press conference: “They’re talking upwards of $8 (million), $9 million dollars he’s throwing away. I would literally ride a rocket ship to the moon for six months for $10 million to do a press conference.”

On the obligations of the job: “Our job is to entertain,” Cerrone said. “That’s what we do; it’s part of the job. When you sign on the ‘X,’ I have to do all the media obligations for Ottawa (at UFC Fight Night 89). You think I want to? It’s just part of the job. It’s what we have to do.”

On why the fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov didn’t happen: “I called Dana (White), said (I wanted) the fight, and he asked me why and I said, ‘Because I want to do it,’” Cerrone explained. “He said, ‘OK, done deal.’ He sent me the contract. Khabib got the contract. Dana returned my call and said, ’This fight doesn’t make sense. We’re not even going to do it. We’re going to act like it never even got offered, it never even happened’. And then Khabib was saying I got injured, or whatever, and he was sending me pictures of his signed contract. Yeah, mine was signed too, man. It’s just Dana called me and said, ‘It doesn’t make any sense. We’re not going to take you off Ottawa when we need to sell tickets. That’s the end of story.’”