When Donald Cerrone posted a grim-looking photo of his injured eye on his Instagram account, many feared ‘Cowboy’ would miss out on his second pay-per-view in a row.
Cerrone had lost out on fighting at UFC 205 in New York when Kelvin Gastelum missed weight at 170lbs by a long shot. He was handed a fight against Matt Brown at UFC 206, coming up this Saturday, but the eye injury did not look good at all.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNFWqOUhDB4/?taken-by=cowboycerrone&hl=en
Cerrone dismissed suggestions of prosthetics or make-up being used to make his eye appear to be badly damaged. Subsequent photos back up his point.
Ahead of Saturday’s bout with Brown, Cerrone’s eye still has some residual bruising and darkness but he insists he is good to throw down. He told reporters:
“It happened hunting. I shot a 300-calibre win mag [Winchester Magnum] off my horse and the horse went f**king crazy.
“A lot of [the damage] was superficial; scratches and shit that all healed up. I got some stem cell [treatment] done in Mexico and rushed the healing process a lot. It’s good; I’m healthy.
“I never pulled out of a fight ever. A lot of my coaches were against it – saying if I got hit in the eye it would open back up – but it has all healed up. It’s all superficial. I’m sure Matt is going to hit me in the eye but, hey, let’s go.”
Cerrone argued that he has passed all the medical checks and is 100% cleared to fight in the PPV event in Toronto.
Cerrone also back-tracked somewhat on his brazen statements when he was unveiled as a key player in the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association, last week.
He admitted he should have called UFC president Dana White to let him know he was standing with the MMAAA said he will have no involvement with certain figures in it [most likely Bjorn Rebney] and said he was not overly keen on being a board member.
Diarmuid Connolly makes his long overdue GAA Hour debut and talks to Colm Parkinson about everything from the black card to his rivalry with Lee Keegan and how he honed the ability to kick accurately with either foot.
