It felt like an eight-fight winning streak was completely flushed down the drain.
With the lightweight title just outside his grasp, Donald Cerrone was quickly and violently brought back down to earth Saturday night, lasting a mere 66 seconds in a demoralizing loss to lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 17.
"Sometimes you just don’t show up to work, so you get your ass kicked," Cerrone told MMAjunkie.com following the event. "Hats off to the son of a (expletive). He did what he had to do. … The knee is what started it. Then he put a great onslaught of punches on me. He did a great job overwhelming me, and he did what he had to do to remain champ. Sometimes you just don’t show up, and in our profession, that’s a bad day."
One of the most active fighters under the UFC umbrella, Cerrone fought four times in both 2015 and 2014, and wouldn't mind getting back into the Octagon as soon as possible. That is, if the UFC calls him (they will).
"I have no idea how that will work," Cerrone said. "I don’t even know if (the UFC will) want to call me after that ass-whipping. But that’s what I do is fight. Sometimes you just don’t show up. I don’t have an excuse - I just wasn’t there. He showed up and did what he had to do."
Still one of the top fighters in the 155-pound division, Cerrone may have to rack up another herculean winning streak to get himself back into the championship picture. Sporting a pair of losses to dos Anjos already, it's unlikely Cerrone gets another sniff at the title as long as the Brazilian buzz saw is perched atop the throne.
