Hard-charging Cerrone lives a fast life
Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone laughed mockingly at the idea of saving money for retirement. He scoffed at a suggestion that his fight with Dennis Siver at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 is critical for his positioning in the deep lightweight division.
And he dismissed any concern about winning a championship.
"[Expletive], man, only one thing I care about right now and that's making money," Cerrone said. "I want to get paid. I don't care if anyone is overlooking me or looking past me or where I stand. I just want to keep fighting, dude. Let them keep me busy. I want to fight again in December. I just want to fight every couple of months and keep those checks coming."
Those checks should start getting a little larger because Cerrone, 28, is on an impressive roll, with five wins in a row and six victories in his last seven outings. An import from the merger with World Extreme Cagefighting, Cerrone won Fight of the Night via a submission of Paul Kelly in his UFC debut at UFC 126 in February, then won Knockout of the Night for taking out Charles Oliveira in his last bout in August at UFC Live 5 in Milwaukee, Wis.
Cerrone said his only goal, though, is to do well enough to earn enough money to buy things that will help him enjoy his life. Winning a title is a goal, albeit one of his few long-range ones. He's more concerned about the here and now.
"One day I want to be the champion, but am I looking forward to fighting for the title next? No, not at all," Cerrone said. "I just want to keep fighting, because I like money. Every time I fight, I can buy new [expletive]. That's what I like to do."
He and his best friend and training partner, UFC featherweight Leonard Garcia, are building a ranch on 10 acres, and they've already sunk $70,000 into a gym on the property. In addition, the proceeds from his fight earnings include a boat and jet skis. He says he's planning to become a professional wake boarder.
He's a professional risk taker and says he's interested in anything that "makes my [expletive] pucker."
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He's taken enough risks that he's broken his back twice, once nearly dying when he attempted a 60-foot jump while four-wheeling in Colorado and came up on the short end. He not only broke his back and his ribs, he was in a coma for more than two weeks.
He lives life at breakneck speed, though it's taken something of a toll. He feels every mishap when he awakens.
"Man, in the mornings, I feel like a 110-year-old man," he said. "But that's the way it is. I don't regret anything. I do what I do because I love it. The body heals."
Cerrone, though, feels that not only won't he live to be 110, he also doesn't expect to make it to 50. One of the negative side effects of living the way he does is that the risk of disaster is increasingly high.
He isn't worried about a 401(k) or an IRA, because he doubts there will be a retirement for him.
"I'm not going to make it that far, to 50," Cerrone said firmly. "I just don't think I will. I go too hard too many times. I'm all right with that. And I'm going to take Leonard with me.
"People who want to plan for a retirement, hey, great for them. My hat is off to them if they're doing what they think is right for them. But me, no. I don't think about that [expletive] at all. I think about the right now, and that's why I'm going to be broke in a couple of years."
Given the life he leads, that last statement begs a question: Will he be broken physically, or financially?
"Both," he said, chuckling. "I know that. It's OK. I'm good with it. I'm a big boy. I make my choices."
He's made a choice not to concern himself too much with anyone or anything. He is preparing hard for the fight with Siver by, he says, "going to war with Leonard. Every time we spar, we're out there trying to kill each other."
He professes not to know much about Siver's preferences, though he said he happened to catch Siver's victory over Matt Wiman at UFC 132 in Las Vegas in July, in which Siver was on the right side of a controversial decision.
"You tell me about Siver, because I don't know a thing about the dude," Cerrone said. "I know he accidentally won his last fight and now he gets to fight me. That's about all I know. I've seen him throw a spinning back kick against Paul Kelly, the same guy I fought, and he threw that spinning back kick and knocked him out.
"Other than that, I don't know much about the dude. I know that in his last fight, he fought Matt Wiman, and Wiman beat the [expletive] out of him and he somehow miraculously won the fight. Now, he gets to fight me, so that's about it. I'll be ready for it."
If it turns into a high risk affair, though, he'll be into it just that much more.
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