Donald Cerrone speaks bluntly about UFC lightweight return: This is my last run

Fight game veteran Donald Cerrone has announced that he is returning to the lightweight division to make a final push for the coveted 155 lbs title.

In an octagon career spanning over a decade, Cerrone has fought the best fighters in both the lightweight and welterweight divisions in the UFC. However, in his past few fights, "Cowboy" had been competing in the 170 lbs division. Although he started well, Cerrone's recent run of form at welterweight hasn't been too encouraging.

Cerrone lost to Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis at UFC 246 and 249 respectively, His most recent fight at welterweight came against Niko Price which ended in a draw, leaving Cowboy with one draw and a couple of losses in his last three fights.

🤠• Most UFC wins (23)• Most finishes (16)• Most fights in a year (5)• Most knockdowns (20)• Most bonuses (18)• Second-most UFC fights (35)Cowboy Cerrone is back in the saddle on Saturday 👊#UFCVegas11 | Saturday | BT Sport 1 HD pic.twitter.com/2kdotnTxpG

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) September 15, 2020

Donald Cerrone will bow out on his own terms

However, even with his back against the wall, Donald Cerrone is certainly not ready to quit anytime soon. He has now decided to drop down to lightweight where he's fought for most of his glorious career.

Sep27.2014Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone spoils the UFC debut of Eddie Alvarez,when he defeats him by unanimous decision pic.twitter.com/5f1fNc42pb

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) September 28, 2020

In a video on his YouTube channel (via The Mac Life), Cerrone said that he doesn't pay heed to people saying he should retire. Cerrone said that he will be the one to decide when it's time to stop fighting and it's definitely not now.

Cerrone further stated that he believes he will fight for a couple more years before hanging his gloves. He believes that he still has four or five fights left in him and hopes to mount one final run for the title at 155 lbs.

“Everyone talking about I should slow down or I should stop. I want to retire when I want to retire. I don’t care what everyone else will say. Realistically I probably got a couple of years left, and that’s probably four or five fights left in me. Who knows. I’m gonna go back to ’55 and make a run. Let’s go. If I’m gonna do it and make a run, I’m gonna give it my all. It would suck to remember the last bits of my fight career when I’m old and I’m like, ‘Man, I should have gave it a try. I should have ridden the wave and [not] slacked the last part of my career and regretted it'. Just tighten it up, rock it, do it. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work but at least I tried."

Cerrone sounds really determined to leave a mark in the UFC before calling it a day and it will be interesting to see how the veteran fighter fares in his next challenge inside the unforgiving octagon.