Donald Cerrone and Conor McGregor have traded barbs for almost a year now. The feud started when ‘The Notorious’ blasted Cerrone and the rest of the fighters at the UFC’s ‘Go Big’ press conference in 2015.
"I see stiffness when I look in that 155-pound division," McGregor said last year. "Slow, stiff. I feel like they're stuck in the mud almost.”
Cerrone fired back, telling the featherweight champion to ‘sit the fu*k down’ and to stay out of the lightweight division.
Cowboy, who now competes at welterweight and has rattled off three straight wins, was sat behind McGregor at the UFC’s New York press conference last month. McGregor was up to his usual antics, antagonizing his UFC 205 opponent Eddie Alvarez and claiming no one on stage presented a real challenge.
Cerrone, who faces No. 5 ranked welterweight Kelvin Gastelum on Nov 12, said McGregor doesn’t utter a word backstage and can’t back up his onstage bravado.
“It’s all an act, a big show (from McGregor),” Cerrone told Sports Illustrated in a recent interview (h/t Metro.co.uk). “I just tune him out, because behind the scenes he is like a scared little kid. “He hides from us. When they line us all up they take Conor and put him in another room because he can’t be around other fighters because we don’t play that s***.”
Cerrone also claimed that none of the fighters like the Irishman but acknowledges his ability to sell fights and make big money.
“(He is disliked) by all. By all. He’s not one of the fellas, he’s not a good dude,” Cerrone continued. “But it is what it is, he’s done a good job promoting the sport. He’s done a good job at making money, so I can’t hate the guy for that. But just as a person, I ain’t a fan of his.”
Although Cerrone has established himself as a serious contender at 170, the JacksonWink product is open to returning to the lightweight division and could perhaps face McGregor in the future.
Cerrone vs. Gastelum, which features on the main card of UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor, takes place on November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York.