UFC welterweight Donald Cerrone has been planning to drop back down to 155-pounds. Apparently, he was scheduled to do so for the UFC’s event in Austin, Texas, against an opponent he already defeated.
“I was going back to 155-pounds, and I thought the fight was supposed to be with Matt Brown,” Cerrone told Jim Norton and Matt Serra in a recent appearance on UFC Unfiltered. “Matt Brown called, and I begged the UFC for the fight, I told them that he wanted to do it.”
“Cowboy” explains that Brown suddenly pulled out of the yet to be announced match-up, which is why he will carry on with his welterweight run against Yancy Medeiros, instead.
“So originally, the fight was me and Matt Brown in Austin, main event,” Cerrone said. “So, I was like, ‘alright, I wanted to go down to 155, but f—k it, whatever, no problem. So then, they said ‘well, now Matt, I guess the day doesn’t work for him, I don’t know what the excuse was.”
“So, now, here I am, main event in Austin, by myself, and then Yancy’s like ‘I’ll do it!’ So I said ‘OK, here we go!’
Brown took what he said was his retirement fight against Diego Sanchez in Norfolk, Virginia last November, where he won via a highlight reel elbow knockout in the first round. However, he has been on the fence about calling it quits and the legacy he had left behind.
Cerrone feels Brown wanted redemption for their first fight at UFC 206, which was why he felt compelled to say yes to the rematch.
“He was talking about retirement, and I guess maybe I was the fight that he wants redemption,” Cerrone said. “He doesn’t wanna go out like that – I have no idea. He was asking for the fight, and I was obliged to give it to him.”
Cerrone and Medeiros will headline UFC Fight Night 126 on February 18th.