Jorge Masvidal may think he has found a chink in the mental armor of Donald Cerrone, but ‘Cowboy’ says he has matured since losing to the Nate Diaz’s of the world in 2011.
Cerrone, a winner four straight, will take on ‘Gamebred’ in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 23 on Saturday and claims his opponent has failed to get under his skin.
Masvidal, 32, called Cerrone a ‘part-time actor, part-time fighter’ ahead of their bout on Jan. 28 and vowed to push the former title challenger to his mental limits.
Cerrone brushed his comments aside at yesterday’s open workouts and said the last fighter to really get under his skin was Diaz at UFC 141.
“Nah,” Cerrone said when asked if Masvidal has antagonized him. “It’s whatever they gotta do. I’ve been in this game a long time; it’s my 34th UFC fight, so it’s gonna be fun.”
“Diaz,” he said when asked who the last fighter was to get under his skin. “And I paid very much for that.”
The Stockton bad boy taunted Cerrone and gave him the middle finger during their action-packed lightweight bout in 2011, which saw Diaz batter the JacksonWink product from pillar to post in the co-main event. It was arguably the worst loss of Cerrone’s career, but the 33-year-old has completely reinvented himself as a welterweight and is knocking on the door for a title shot.
Since bulking up to 170 pounds last year, Cerrone has rampaged through the division and gone on a four-fight stoppage streak against Alex Oliveira, Patrick Cote, Rick Story, and Matt Brown.
Cerrone will look to move one step closer to a title shot when he takes on Masvidal at UFC on FOX: Shevchenko vs. Peña on Jan. 28 at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
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