Donald Cerrone loves the art of fighting.
His passion for combat is the reason why he's always willing to fight anyone, anywhere at anytime at the drop of Stetson. It's also why he has substituted drilling for sparring, to ensure that he can have as many scraps as possible.
Whenever he steps inside the Octagon, he's not just doing it for himself. His motivation is to be the hero the fans crave. That's why when he was offered to fight in a co-main event in his hometown, he jumped at the opportunity to become a hero yet again.
After absolutely tearing through just about everybody in his first four fights at welterweight, Cerrone could have sat on the sidelines waiting for that one fight that could earn him a title shot. Instead, he took on the dangerous and always underrated 12th-ranked Jorge Masvidal, just seven weeks after his tough brawl with Matt Brown.
The move didn't pay off, as Gamebred came out to prove a point, and he succeeded in doing so by knocking him out
twice in the same fight.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/826042092157706240
The boos raining down on Masvidal from the stands perfectly illustrated the narrative the crowd had selected as their reality. The fairytale had been turned into a horror story as their hero was completely outclassed by the villain.
Although it's these loyal fans who Cerrone always shows up to fight for, his number one supporter is undoubtedly his grandmother, who is sadly passing away from pulmonary hypertension.
If you want to know how much she means to him, take a look at this touching feature the UFC released prior to his lightweight title fight back in December 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXzfO-8jcQ
Cerrone walked hand-in-hand into the arena on Saturday night.
After the fight was over, she really took Masvidal by surprise by
congratulating him on his stellar performance. She also provided Cowboy with a shoulder to lean on as she consoled him backstage.
The fighter shared a beautiful snapshot of the moment on Instagram, complete with the chorus to
The Band's melancholic country classic
The Weight in the caption.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP4FlCFhSWb/?taken-by=cowboycerrone&hl=en
The fight game is tough.
