Donald Cerrone believes he is 'absolutely' a better MMA fighter than Conor McGregor.
Much has been made of McGregor's plans for after the Cerrone fight, with the Crumlin man targeting a lightweight title rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov, who beat him in his last UFC fight in October 2018.
The former two-weight UFC champion wants three fights in 2020 and has also been linked with match-ups against Justin Gaethje and Jorge Masvidal.
First, of course, McGregor must beat American rival Cerrone in 11 days' time.
And while Cerrone has never held a UFC title, he cannot be underestimated.
He holds the record for the most wins in UFC history (23), the most finishes in UFC history (16), the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history (18) and the most knockdowns in UFC history (20).
And 'Cowboy' is in no doubt who is the better fighter.
“Do I feel like a better mixed martial artist? Absolutely,” Cerrone told MMA Fighting . “I feel like I’ve been in the trenches. I’ve been in the big fights. I’ve walked this path many, many times.
“This is my 51st MMA fight coming out of that tunnel. Literally, I’ve done it more than anybody.”
Cerrone is more experienced at welterweight than McGregor, who has held the UFC lightweight and featherweight titles.
But he says it wasn't his idea to fight at 170.
“I didn’t care. They called and said Conor wants to fight you at 170. I said hell yeah let’s do it. It wasn’t a beat other than that,” Cerrone said.
“We’re both going to have a healthy, fat camp. How about that?
"We don’t have to worry about battling with diet and all that sh*t.
"We just get to go be who we want, train hard and show up healthy and I’m excited.
"All in all to get the best Conor, the best ‘Cowboy,’ this is the only way to do it.”
