Donald Cerrone thinks it would be ‘cool’ to fight Conor McGregor, and Dana White might be coming around to the idea.
Donald Cerrone’s absolute slug-fest against Alexander Hernandez at UFC on ESPN+1 earned the praise of Conor McGregor, as the Irishman tweeted that he would be down to fight ‘The Cowboy’ after his Fight of the Night performance at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Saturday.
Cerrone, who knocked out Hernandez in the second round, has been calling for a fight with McGregor ever since his submission win over Mike Perry at UFC Fight Night 139. And, after McGregor’s latest Tweet, the UFC veteran said it would be ‘cool’ to finally lock horns with the former ‘champ-champ.’
“That’d be cool,” Cerrone told reporters after he got news of McGregor’s Tweet (h/t MMA Junkie). “I hope the fight goes through. I can’t get my hopes up.”
Although Cerrone isn’t getting his hopes up about the bout, the 35-year-old would love to engage with McGregor outside the cage as much as he would inside the cage, hailing the former featherweight and lightweight champ a master of mental warfare.
“He dictates everything, man,” Cerrone said of McGregor. “I can say yes. Well, I can’t say I’ll fight anybody anymore, because now I told my team I’ll take it easy. I want a top-five guy. Conor’s (No.) 2. That equals top-five to me. He’s the master of talking (expletive). I’m sure he’ll try and get under my skin. It will be fun.”
Cerrone is even willing to fight McGregor in his backyard of Dublin, Ireland.
“March, April, May – the sun’s out,” Cerrone said. “I can bring my boat and RV to (Las) Vegas. I’m sure it will be in Vegas, or Ireland. (Expletive) yeah. Let’s go.”
UFC president Dana White is also coming around to the idea, telling reporters that ‘anything’s possible’ when it comes to Conor McGregor.
“I mean, anything’s possible,” White said. “If those guys want that and the fans want to see it, that’s what I do.”
“Obviously, don’t run out there and say that’s the fight I’m making. I don’t know what I’m going to do. But I like the fact that two of these guys that are complete dogs and fight anybody are willing to fight each other. That’s fun.”
Before there’s any more talk of the potential matchup, however, McGregor must first meet with the Nevada Athletic Commission over his involvement in the chaotic UFC 229 post-fight brawl in Las Vegas. McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are expected to be fined — and possibly suspended — over their behavior. Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round to defend his lightweight title.