Donald Cerrone: No one deserved Conor McGregor fight more than me

LAS VEGAS – Donald Cerrone admits it: Getting booked against Conor McGregor feels like winning the lottery.

That said, Cerrone (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC), one half of Saturday night’s UFC 246 main event, thinks you’d be hard-pressed to find a more deserving opponent for a McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) mega-fight than him.

“It’s just like everybody – throwing it out there and going fishing,” told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “Holy (expletive). The marlin bit, didn’t it? It’s cool, man. I’m happy to be here. If you look at the roster and see who damn well deserves this fight, it’s me. (Expletive), I put the time in, put the effort.”

Cerrone has yet to win UFC gold in his career, so a fight against McGregor could very well be the pinnacle of his career should he win. While there isn’t a title on the line, there are serious legacy implications at stake.

“Hell yeah, we talk about legacy fights,” Cerrone said. “For those who didn’t know I was fighting for some reason – they’re up there, living on the moon and they got here on Friday and are like, ‘Holy (expletive), ‘Cowboy’ is fighting? We’ve got to figure out where we can watch this.’ That’s what I want.

“I want people to say, ‘That son of an (expletive) is the hardest-working, blue-collar American I’ve ever seen fight. I want to watch him because he fights with purpose and a reason.’ I plan on going out there. I’m (expletive) fighting for everybody, man. This is what I love to do. There’s no other job I’d rather do. I’m doing it, I’m living it, and I’m here.”

Even without a belt, Cerrone’s name is all over the UFC’s record books. The sentiment of potentially adding to his records Saturday night amplified Cerrone’s already buzzing excitement levels.

“We’re going after five or six records,” Cerrone said. “(Expletive), yeah. Another bonus, another knockout, another submission, another fight, another win. (Expletive) rack them up we’re coming for them. … That’s the coolest part about this. Every time I walk into the ring, I get to break more records. How cool is that? You just beat yourself, so it’s even cooler.

“When I’m done and I walk away and bow out of the sport, I want to have them so far that these little kids are coming up, the Maycee Barbers of the world (can’t catch them). ‘Stay away. Stay back.’ I’ve got to make it far so they can’t even catch up.”

UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out the full UFC 246 pre-fight media scrum with Donald Cerrone in the video above.