Donald âCowboyâ Cerrone seemed serious when he announced his retirement from fighting back in 2022 but less than three years later, heâs already planning a comeback.
The 41-year-old UFC Hall of Famer announced plans to return to action with hopes of breaking a few more records and hitting 50 fights under the UFC family umbrella (combined bouts between UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, PRIDE, etc). Just a day after Cerrone announced his plans, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub chatted with him about the decision to come out of retirement and fight again.
âI literally just talked to âCowboyâ before I came in here because we both do off-road racing and me and him were talking about some race stuff,â Schaub told MMA Fighting. âI mentioned, I said âcoming back, huh?â and he just started laughing.
ââCowboyâs a different animal where I would assume the UFC gives him proper matchups. Like donât toss him in there with these killers. Heâs a legend, heâs earned that.â
Itâs been a decade since Schaub last competed but he understands that temptation to fight again because the competitive nature of athletes at that level never expires.
Of course, there are numerous reasons why itâs so hard to give up the sport but Schaub knows for many fighters it comes down to a financial decision. Thatâs not the case for âCowboy,â however, which made Schaub initially question the decision to return to the UFC until he heard Cerroneâs sheer excitement and enthusiasm about fighting again.
âI love âCowboyâ â this is how crazy his ass is: âCowboyâ has a very successful career outside the octagon,â Schaub said. âThe only reason most of these guys go back is doing it because theyâre chasing that dragon, they want the fame, they want the eyeballs, they want the competition, they want the money. âCowboyâ doesnât need any of that. Thatâs how much he loves fighting. He goes âI just want to break that 50/50 club, 50 fights, all time-finisher, all that stuff.â Kudos to him.
âI brought it up to talk him out of it, by the end [of the conversation] Iâm like hell yeah! I canât wait. âCowboyâ Cerroneâs back!â
Itâs no surprise that Cerrone is an adrenaline junkie â he famously engaged in all sorts of extreme sports even close to some of his biggest fights â but Schaub assumed his new career racing cars would scratch that itch for him.
It turns out nothing can replace fighting for Cerrone, which is ultimately the main reason heâs coming back.
âIâm just different,â Schaub said. âDonât get me wrong, thereâs some things I miss about fighting. When youâre racing, I race UTVâs, I race Polaris … âCowboyâs doing big boy races. The Nitro Circus and heâs in trophy trucks and Class Ones, heâs doing big boy shit. Itâs intense, itâs insane. Weâre talking about 800 horsepower trucks, million dollar trucks.
âIf thatâs not getting your rocks off, youâve got problems. We all have our problems. But itâs just not enough for âCowboy.ââ
As much as heâs going to support Cerrone in his comeback effort, Schaub knows thereâs still a lot of mountains he needs to climb before heâs ready to compete with the best of the best in the UFC again.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle is Cerroneâs admitted use of performance enhancing drugs since retiring because none of that is illegal when heâs not fighting in the UFC.
That changes once Cerrone officially notifies the organization of his plans to return to the octagon, which means he has to re-enter the UFCâs anti-doping program that requires at least six months of clean tests before an athlete can compete again.
âWhat heâs doing because Iâm on TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), âCowboyâs on TRT clearly and peptides, whatever,â Schaub said. âI said âdude, I donât think people realize what youâre doing â itâs hard enough to be out of the game and then get back into it. When youâre on peptides and TRT for years and youâve got to get off of it, piss clean for six months straight, youâre already against the odds here.â I donât think people realize his bodyâs going to change completely.
âRemember when USADA came in the UFC and itâs like âmy favorite fighter looks very different.â Itâs going to be like that but on steroids, no pun intended. What heâs doing is against all the odds. Itâs hard enough if he just was doing his own thing and came back but when youâre feeling that good taking this stuff and your hormones are good and youâve got to get completely off of it, thatâs a tough road.â
Obviously Schaub wants to see Cerrone succeed now that itâs clear heâs coming back but more than anything, he hopes the UFC treats him right.
Thatâs not about monetary compensation but rather the level of competition that the UFC plans to throw at him because Schaub doesnât necessarily need to see Cerrone going up against a string of young, hungry killers looking to make a name off him.
âI hope they match him up right,â Schaub said. âIf they announce his fight and heâs fighting some killer, weâll know what they think of him. But Dana [White] loves âCowboy.â
âFor âCowboy,â too, whatâs different, I was discussing this with him when I was in my truck, the amount of eyeballs heâs going to bring to everything heâs doing â his CanAm racing and his off-road racing, his trophy truck racing, all the stuff heâs doing and Danaâs Nitro [Circus] â that just adds value to âCowboy.â Heâs a little different and he does have his wits about him. I just hope they match him up accordingly.â
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