Dana White does not like the idea of Donald Cerrone coming out of retirement.
On Tuesday, “Cowboy” Cerrone announced that he intends to end his retirement and return to the UFC for two more fights. The 41-year-old’s announcement was mostly met with enthusiasm from fans and fellow fighters, but the UFC CEO was not among them. In fact, White was unequivocal in his dislike for Cerrone coming back to MMA.
“I hate it. I hate it,” White said at his post-Contender Series media scrum on Tuesday. “Love him, hate that.
“He retired. For what? What’s left to prove? If you want to make money, let’s figure something else out. I hate it. When guys retire, they retire for a reason. They don’t just retire because — they retire because they know it’s over. They know it is.
“Not just this sport but any professional sport, is hard to walk away from. Not just the money — that’s obviously a very hard part of it — but the feeling of walking out of that tunnel, the feeling of getting in the cage and the place is packed. Look at every time we’re at a show and we show Cowboy Cerrone on the screen, the place goes nuts. He’s beloved. He’s beloved because the guy goes to war, and he’s been in wars for years, and it’s time to not go to war anymore. There’s nothing left to prove for him.”
Cerrone is one of the most decorated fighters in UFC history, with a number of promotional records to his name. After retiring from the sport in 2022, he was inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023 in the Modern wing. However, the end of Cerrone’s career left much to be desired as he lost six of his final seven fights, with only a No-Contest in between the losses.
White isn’t sure exactly why Cerrone wants to return but if it’s a matter of money, White says they can always figure something else out.
“I’d rather work something else out with him, figure out another way,” White said. “If it’s about money, then he can do something else. Because he ain’t going to fight for the rest of his life and he’s always going to need to make money. So let’s figure that out now instead of three years from now.”
Based on Cerrone’s statements though, it doesn’t seem like money is the primary motivator. “Cowboy” currently has 48 fights in his career in either the UFC or WEC, and explicitly noted he’d like to make it to 50.
But White appears to be more concerned with Cerrone’s longterm health than anything else, and it doesn’t seem like “Cowboy” will get his wish unless he can change White’s mind.
“Cerrone shouldn’t think about fighting again,” White said. “Cerrone needs to think about what’s next. He should have been thinking about it two years ago but apparently he didn’t, and he needs to. But we’re here for him. We love Cerrone. We’ll help in any way we can. I don’t want to see him get punched in the face anymore.”