3. ‘Cowboy’ is going nowhere
Cerrone is surely going to be bummed out about this result for a good while. He had nothing to offer McGregor when they finally got in the octagon, and while many believed the matchup with “Cowboy” was a better tailor-made fit for McGregor than one of his designer suits, few could’ve anticipated it would go down like it did.
It’s now three losses in a row for Cerrone, and as MMA fans do, there were heavy criticism of his performance and calls for him to retire post-fight. That’s just utter nonsense. At this point it’s pretty clear that, barring a miraculous string of victories, Cerrone isn’t going to be a UFC champion. This one was probably his peak in terms of big fights, but that doesn’t mean he needs to go away.
Cerrone has been competing in this sport for a very long time. He has the most fights in UFC history, and for the bout with McGregor, he finally got the big money he’s been working for and deserves (he definitely made multiple times more than the $200,000 disclosed purse, by the way). He’s not going to step away now, and, at the very least, look for him to fight out the remaining bouts on his new deal before there’s any consideration of doing something else.