Donald Cerrone is the kind of guy who rubs a lot of people the wrong way. I’d be lying if I said that I was the biggest fan of his personality, but he has proven to be an immensely entertaining fighter in the cage. In UFC 141 opponent Nate Diaz, Cerrone found himself against a similarly polarizing figure and both men engaged in a considerable amount of pre-fight trash talk.
Diaz got the better of Cerrone over the three round fight, battering him with a constant attack of punches.
To his credit, Cerrone owned the loss at the post-fight presser. Via ESPN:
“No, a lot of people were saying that, like I took too many fights — no I didn’t,” he said at the postfight newser. “Sometimes you show up, sometimes you don’t. I felt flatfooted — I’m not making any excuses. [Diaz] went out there and was better than me, and that’s all there is to it. I’ll take 20 fights next year, I don’t care. Some days you show up, some days you don’t. And like I said, the dude’s a warrior.”
…
“I wanted to stand, I wanted to play,” he said. “And I got outboxed. I talked a lot of s—, and the bigger, badder dog showed up tonight. My hat’s off to [Diaz], and it was a good fight. And I’d do it again. That’s the one promise I make every fight, [that I’ll fight] to the end every time.”
A pretty refreshing attitude, all things considered.