The UFC fighter who spends it as fast as he gets it
Donald Cerrone would fight 12 times a year if it were possible.
The UFC lightweight loves anything that brings an adrenaline rush, and standing inside a locked cage with one of the world's best fighters definitely accomplishes that task.
It's Cerrone's other habit that causes him to have to fight as often as he does. He'll meet Adriano Martins on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago as part of a card televised nationally by Fox, the first of what he hopes will be six fights in 2014.
Few UFC fighters fight as often as four times in a year, and rare is the one who fights six times in a calendar year.
Cerrone, though, has expensive taste and likes the things that he's suddenly able to afford as a result of his success in the cage.
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But it's not like he's got a lot of it invested and tucked away in retirement accounts. He's pretty much a here-and-now kind of a guy when it comes to his money.
"Aw man, I spend it pretty much as fast as I make it," he says in that slow drawl of his. "If I want something, I don't wait around and plan or nothing, I just go out and get it."
Cerrone, who made his living in construction before he became a full-time fighter, is putting the finishing touches on a large home he designed and built himself. The home in New Mexico has been appraised at $600,000, Cerrone said, and includes 4,500 square feet of hard wood flooring.
"I just put $200,000 into my house remodeling it, so technically, I'm broke," he said. "I own everything. I own my RV, my house, my trucks, my boat. Everything is paid for.
"The UFC has been very good to me, man. I own a $160,000 Malibu. I own two trucks, a house, an RV. I love it. Like I said, I'm broke. As soon as I get it, I spend it. I need to start saving it."
Cerrone is not a saver, inside the ring or out. Once the bell rings, he doesn't pace himself whatsoever, and instead goes all out, all the time in search of a finish.
In a very short period of time, it's gained him a tremendous amount of popularity and earned him a significant income, but just like spending with no financial plan, his fight style can lead to trouble, too.
He's not one to worry much about risks in the cage. He is an offensive dynamo who is always on the attack, but the risk of getting caught with a devastating punch or kick is always higher fighting that way.
And while he's strung together a series of good wins, he's also had his share of dramatic losses.
Still, nothing about Cerrone is going to change. Though he's very tempted to drop to 145 pounds after the fight with Martins so he could take on long-time rival Cole Miller, he said he's "probably" going to stay at lightweight.
Miller and Cerrone have for several years had a public war of words, and the most recent manifestation of it came last week at UFC Fight Night 35. After Miller submitted Sam Sicilia, he called out Cerrone by referring to him as "Donald 'Clown Boy' Cerrone." Cerrone's nickname is "Cowboy."
A few days later, though, and Cerrone wasn't in much of a mood to consider Miller. Eight days before the fight with Martins, Cerrone said he weighed 171 pounds, meaning he has to drop 15 pounds in a week to make the contracted weight of 156 pounds at Friday's weigh-in.
After he rehydrates following the weigh-in, he'll likely weigh 178 pounds by the time he steps into the cage for the fight.
That's a long way from featherweight, where the divisional limit for non-title fights is 146 pounds.
As much as he would love to get his hands on Miller, he's probably going to pass on the idea of fighting at featherweight.
"Anyone who knows me knows I love to fight and that I'll fight anyone at any time," Cerrone said. "That's just how I am. I've been kind of throwing the idea of featherweight around, but 155 is probably where I'm going to stay, because I like to eat."
That may make a grudge match with Miller an impossibility, which would be a disappointment.
However, if there is one thing that is certain about Cerrone is that he approaches every fight as if it is the biggest one he's ever had.
With so many expensive toys he's eyeing, he really has no other choice.
