Donald Cerrone has enjoyed plenty of memorable moments during his legendary career but it’s possible that his appearance at UFC 274 might be the most special one yet.
The 54-fight veteran returns to action following a year away from the sport but the emotion he’s feeling leading into his matchup against Joe Lauzon on Saturday isn’t as much about himself, the event or the opponent he’s facing but rather one very special person sitting in the audience.
“It’s not me it’s my son,” Cerrone said while fighting back tears at UFC 274 media day. I can’t wait for him to see that look. It’s impossible to wait. He now knows exactly what I do. Although it’s amazing how emotionally charged I can get, I always think of him when I’m not feeling like working out. I can’t ****** delay.
“I cannot wait to see him smile like ‘wow this is my dad’ so to me that’s why I wanted a sold out crowd. I wanted to see my son as .'”
when I walked out of the tunnel.
Cerrone, who is now a father of two, has welcomed his eldest son into the cage previously but he was too young to actually know what was happening.
Now that he’s a little older, the 39-year-old lightweight knows it’s going to be a moment he’ll never forget when he locks eyes with his son sitting cageside as he makes his walk to the octagon.
” “He is almost four years old and will be able grasp it,” Cerrone explained. He doesn’t understand what I do. So he says, “You’re going to Vegas for work dad?” He isn’t sure what it means.
” He loves Ninja Turtles and loves to fight, so I cannot wait to ask him “What Ninja Turtle daddy is going to be tonight?” because I am going out to kick some ****** arses so .”
According to Cerrone the significance of this occasion brought back a conversation with Charles “Mask”, Lewis who founded the brand Tapout mixed martial arts. He signed as a sponsor.
“‘Mask” used to say to me, “I’m only looking for one person who can touch millions. I don’t care if I touch all of these people. I want one person to change the lives of a million people.” Cerrone stated. Now I understand what it means to search for that one person.
“Now when I walk out of that tunnel, I cannot wait to see my son standing there like yep, I’m changing you, boy. You’re going to grow up with the morals and ethics that I think are appropriate in this world and change you and help you move onto sculp the next generation of people. That is very important with the younger generation and if I can pick my son to do that, let’s do it.”
While Cerrone has undoubtedly secured his place in history for any number of accomplishments on his resume, he feels like having his son in attendance at UFC 274 might trump anything he’s done previously in his career.
“That’s definitely legacy,” Cerrone said. “I don’t ever get emotional during fighting. Children bring out that in you. As you can see, I am a complete f ****** mess. It’s a feeling that I couldn’t explain unless you have your own kids.”
