Donald Cerrone Explains Why He’s Stopped Sparring
Donald Cerrone is perhaps the most active fighter in UFC history, but he’s not taking extra licks if he doesn’t have to.
The top-10 UFC lightweight and welterweight appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience Tuesday night, and told an interesting story regarding his mental well being. Cerrone told Rogan that he’d stopped sparring altogether, and having a concussion scare was a big reason why.
“After I got my ass whipped by(Rafael) dos Anjos… I got hooked up with Onnit, and I started to think something was fucked up with my brain. I’m brushing my teeth one morning and I fell over and hit the wall. I fell over and hit the other wall, and thought something was seriously wrong with my brain. I got a CT scan, and an MRI, and I’m convinced I’m concussed. Turns out my septum is so deviated I have a sinus infection. It can’t drain and I have this serious infection in my left cheek. I got on medication and cleared it up,” Cerrone said. “Now I don’t spar at all. I drill, because drilling is the most important thing.”
Cerrone admitted that his quantity of fights, both in training and as a prizefighter got him thinking about his future.
“I just feel like a guy at the Wal-Mart check in. Every time you hit your head, he’s clicking. How many people go into wal-mart before it’s full? How many more do I got? I don’t know. How many epic brawls did me and Leonard Garcia have in the training room? I don’t know,” said Cerrone.
“Cowboy” said that there are rare exceptions where he’ll spar, but it has to be with someone he trusts. The former lightweight title challenger says that he’s far past the point of brutal gym battles.
“I’ll get in there and move around with (Andrei Arlovski). Heavy takedowns and grappling, real light sparring.” said Cerrone. “The days of putting on the big gloves and throwing down? Hell no. Well, I just did it with Joe Schilling the other day, so I can’t say hell no, but we had a good tempo and it wasn’t anything crazy. Very controlled. If I’m sparring with someone very controlled who doesn’t try to kill me — cool. If I’m going with someone going crazy trying to make a name at the gym, then I gotta fuck them up.”
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