Donald Cerrone: A Cowboy's Quest

By Frank Curreri

He is a city slicker turned cowboy, a bull rider turned fighter, and a knockout artist who keeps submitting pro opponents even though he's only studied grappling for about two years. Make no mistake about it, Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone is one of the more interesting MMA figures in the world today.

He has long marched to the beat of a different drummer than his peers. Both of his grandparents were doctors, his mom was a nurse and his sister was an anesthesiologist. But Cerrone was too busy chasing the next adrenaline rush to follow in their footsteps. Instead of studying and trying to get into medical school, he rode 2,000-pound bulls, snowboarded in the Colorado Mountains and attempted monster jumps on four-wheelers.

He was raised in an affluent suburban neighborhood, in Colorado Springs, Colo., but always felt more comfortable on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, feeding cattle, riding horses and firing shotguns. In high school, there were relatively few cowboys around, and wearing his cowboy hat to school and parties often made him the butt of many jokes and insults.

"Everywhere I’d go I’d wear that hat," Cerrone said. "I was about 16 or 17 when I started wearing it. I lived in a high-class area, full of wealthy people. Back then I just had zero tolerance for anything. If they would say something about my hat, we were fighting. I was ready to go. Bigger than me or not, it didn’t matter, let's go. Even if they outnumbered me. That was my whole attitude growing up: Anyone, anywhere. I don't know where it came from or why, that's just how it was. If I got my (expletive) kicked, so what?"

At the time, the hat had an inscription on it. It read: "Cowboy up or go sit in the (expletive) truck." Why not, for the sake of keeping the peace, just discontinue wearing the hat in public?

"Maybe I liked the attention I got. I guess you could say I was peacocking," said the fast-talking Cerrone. "That was just my image. It was like Rampage (Quinton Jackson) wearing that chain around his neck, even before he was anything. That was just him. That was what he did. And that hat, it's just me. But whenever I wear that hat, something bad happens."

Today, at the age of 25, Cerrone only wears that aging, beat-up black hat on the nights when he fights. The hat -- which is adorned with a "TapOut" patch and an "8 Seconds" sticker -- has been something of a good luck charm. Inside of a cage or ring, Cerrone has been near perfect, amassing a 22-0-1 record as a Muay Thai kickboxer and a 7-0 mark in MMA. But the fashion in which the 155-pounder is winning in MMA has raised a lot of eyebrows. He studied extensively under Duane "Bang" Ludwig, a highly respected kickboxer. But all seven of Cerrone's wins have come via submission -- six of them triangle chokes, one of them an armbar. Bear in mind that Cerrone made his MMA debut in February 2006. He fought twice that month, finishing both foes by triangle. He had only studied Brazilian jiu-jitsu for less than two months.

"My opponents would take me down with a single leg so I would switch my hips and work for that triangle right away," Cerrone said. “It was just one of those things that came natural to me. And it seems like I can hit that damn triangle from anywhere. It must be my long legs, it’s got to be. I’m 6 foot.”

But outside of that cage, Cerrone's life has been besieged by one setback after another. A few years ago, while bull riding, he went airborne, hit the dirt and was stomped by the bull. Cerrone suffered a broken tibula but still managed to sprint over the fence to safety. Yet his most serious brush with danger didn't involve a bull, but a four-wheeler.

"I tried to clear like a sixty foot gap and I split my guts open, broke three ribs," he said. "I was in a coma for like 2 and 1/2 weeks."

Less than three months later, Cerrone said he was back in the ring fighting. His last fight in the WEC was in September 2007, when he beat Kenneth Alexander in 56 seconds by -- what else -- a triangle choke. The match was later ruled a no contest because Cerrone tested positive for a banned diuretic. The Nevada State Athletic Commission hit him with an 8-month suspension. Cerrone says the time off helped him refine his skills at Greg Jackson's school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cerrone has been training there for roughly a year and a half, and was first invited by ultra-talented featherweight Leonard Garcia. Cerrone and Garcia, another country boy, are close friends. Garcia was arrested last month in Texas on drug charges and, if convicted, faces up to life in prison. Cerrone prays Garcia -- most famous for his three-round war with Roger Huerta -- will have his name cleared and resume his promising career.

“I spoke with him the other day," Cerrone said. "He said he’s talking with his lawyer and figuring out what’s going on. He was just at the wrong place, wrong time, I guess. That's really all I have to say about that. He’s like my best friend so it's hard for me to say anything about that. I need him to get that cleared up so he can come train with me. I’ve known Leonard for years. He used to come down and train with Duane (Ludwig). Duane married Leonard’s cousin so we've all been buddies for quite some time.

“Just him being here, drilling with me, he was my boy. If I didn’t feel like training he’d say, 'Man, get the (expletive) up let’s go!' We just pushed each other, helped each other. We were always talking (expletive) to each other."

Cerrone, who always dreamed of living like a cowboy, keeps a low-profile these days. His life is remarkably simple. He trains, eats and sleeps at the gym every day -- literally. He resides in a dorm atop Greg Jackson's school.

“Life started sucking the most when I lost my license for five years," he said, proceeding to explain how it happened. "I used to have a street bike and was driving like an idiot on the highways. I lost my license, but I continued to drive anyways. So when I'd get bored I'd go driving (with a suspended license). Finally we got caught doing that and they revoked my license for five years.

"I got about three years left on my no-driving situation. Not being mobile, that’s a drain. But the Whole Foods is right down the street, the Walmart is damn near across the street and I don't have to go anywhere to train because I live at the gym. When I was living in Colorado and my license was suspended, sometimes I'd have to miss practice because I couldn't get a ride to the gym. So living here at the gym has been a godsend."

Every now and again, temptation still tugs at Cerrone to get on a bull or a dirt bike. But these days he tries to abstain from those high-risk hobbies. It's part of his prescription for staying healthy and avoiding major injuries that might derail his fight career.

"Before it was grip it and rip it, man," Cerrone said. “I didn't even care. Now getting to the level where I'm at, I can't do that anymore. I can't get on my dirt bike and play around any more. Now I take fighting a lot more seriously."

He is scheduled to be back in action in June. Some believe Cerrone has the makings of a future WEC champion. The question is posed to him, how good can you be?

“I don’t really have an answer for that, man," he said. "I hope I can be the best. I'm going to try to be the best. I’m not a real cocky or arrogant guy. I'll show what I can show inside of the ring. I'm in no hurry to make it to the top. We'll have to see. I'm going to ride it until the wheels fall off.”