Donald Cerrone Says “Cowboy” Wasn’t At UFC 246

Donald Cerrone and former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor met in the main event of UFC 246, with McGregor scoring a sub-one minute finish of Cerrone.

A defeated Cerrone says that “Cowboy” didn’t show up to fight McGregor earlier this year at UFC 246.

“Donald showed up, ‘Cowboy’ wasn’t there,” Cerrone told Brett Okamoto of ESPN (via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “Wrong guy showed up. Couldn’t get going, couldn’t get excited, couldn’t get fired up. Didn’t want to be there. Biggest fight, all the attention, my time to shine, I didn’t want to be there. It was crazy, man. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, I don’t know how to change that but it sucks, man. Sometimes I’m ready, I’m fired up, I’m ready to go, sometimes I get there I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t want to be there,’ so don’t know, no idea.”

Cerrone is competing for the first time since that loss at UFC 249, facing former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis for a second time.

The fighter admits that it was two days before UFC 246 that he felt that something wasn’t right heading into the event.

“Two days before the fight I was just like, ‘Ah man,’ It was just hard. But when I showed up there that morning it was like, ‘Man, (expletive),’ like I don’t. I just wasn’t feeling it,” says Cerrone.

UFC 249 takes place on Saturday, May 9 from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida with Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+.