Donald Cerrone made it clear prior to UFC 246 that he would never take a dive in a fight. Given the result of his bout with Conor McGregor, though, he’s been forced to go on the defensive post-fight, too.
Cerrone (36-14 MMA, 23-11 UFC) came up short in arguably the biggest moment of his career earlier this month when he suffered a 40-second TKO loss to McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the anticipated UFC 246 headliner in Las Vegas. The fight was short, but “Cowboy” took a fair share of damage. He nose and orbital bone were both damaged from the combination of shoulder strikes, a head kick and the famous left hand for which “The Notorious” is so well known.
It took a matter of seconds after Cerrone was beat for observers to question the legitimacy of his loss. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith said Cerrone folded “like a cheap tent,” and the rhetoric from fans online was even worse. There hasn’t been much public interaction from Cerrone since the fight, but on Thursday he dug into his social media comments and issued responses to some outspoken followers (via Instagram):
Cerrone has not yet spoken publicly about his loss to McGregor and next moves. UFC president Dana White said post-fight at UFC 246 that he’d like to see the promotion’s all-time wins leader take some time off after this fight, and Cerrone may not have much choice as his nose and orbital heal.
For now, though, it seems his fights will be limited to the comments section of his Instagram account.
