UFC president Dana White has spoken out about the ‘disrespect’ shown to Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone ahead of his showdown with Conor McGregor.
Cerrone will face ‘Notorious’ at UFC 246, but most attention in the build-up to the fight has been centred around the Irishman’s return to the Octagon, with many seeing Cerrone as nothing more than a warm-up fight for McGregor.
Lack of Respect
Cowboy will go into the fight off the back of consecutive losses to Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.
But White has highlighted that Cerrone has always bounced back in the past, and should be given a lot more credit in the weeks leading up to UFC 246.
The UFC boss has expressed his shock at the lack of respect being shown to the former lightweight title challenger.
Speaking to ESPN, White said: “The level of disrespect being shown to ‘Cowboy’ through this whole thing…apparently people forgot [how good he is].”
“‘Cowboy’ has lost two in a row. But ‘Cowboy’ has lost two in a row and gone on unbelievable runs. So let’s not count ‘Cowboy’ out.”
A Worthy Opponent
The UFC and McGregor have both been criticised for booking a low-calibre fight for his UFC return, with many writing off Cowboy’s chances.
But White believes such criticism is unjustified and that Cerrone is a worthy opponent.
He continued: “Nobody is disappointed about Cerrone, I promise you that. I guarantee you it will be the biggest bar business – etc, etc.”
“[It’s] a crock of s**t to say anybody is disappointed about Conor versus Cerrone. Crock of s**t. Crock of s**t.”
“If you look at the way we do our matchmaking, Conor lost his last fight. And Cerrone lost his last fight.”
“These are two top-five guys fighting each other. Don’t listen to the bulls**t.”
The most recent to chalk Cerrone as the underdog in the fight is UFC middleweight Darren Till, who believes the 36-year-old will be out of his depth when he steps into the Octagon with Notorious.
Till took to Twitter to express his views on the upcoming fight. He tweeted:
“Feels like the old Conor is back.”
“Both are right up for this, ‘Cowboy’’s camp have more to be concerned with than just Conor’s left hand.”
“I’ve got Conor first-round TKO, feel like the occasion may just be too much for Cowboy,”
Cause an Upset
McGregor and Cerrone will face each other on January 18 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Is Notorious back? Or will Cerrone cause an upset in the Irishman’s much anticipated return?
(Featured image source: Twitter/ Bloody Elbow and Instagram/ Donald Cerrone)