Donald Cerrone

Donald Anthony Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American retired mixed martial artist, actor, and former professional kickboxer. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and was known and respected by fans for his willingness to fight any time, having completed 38 fights in his 11 year UFC tenure. Cerrone was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2023. Background Cerrone was born in Denver, Colorado and is of Irish and Italian descent. At a young age, Cerrone was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder but never received treatment for it. Growing up he was considered a troubled child. He would eventually start street fighting and would often end up in jail overnight. When Cerrone was about 16 his parents were fed up with his behavior and sent him off to go live with his paternal grandmother Jerry Cerrone. Donald claimed that Jerry took him in with open arms. She would sometimes bail Donald and his friends out of jail after they got into another fight and according to Cerrone himself that the next morning she would never bring up exactly what happened the night before, she would just repeat the phrase "you know what you did" and leave it at that. Cerrone attended Air Academy High School, where he began professional bull riding. At the age of 20, by advise of a friend, Cerrone began training in kickboxing and then later Muay Thai. After winning a few kickboxing competitions, Cerrone pursued a career in mixed martial arts (MMA). Mixed martial arts career Cerrone began his career in Commerce City, Colorado at a gym called Freedom Fighters. In 2006, Cerrone began training with Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine, Georges St-Pierre, Leonard Garcia, Tom Watson and other skilled MMA fighters at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.