Rumors have surfaced stating that Cerrone is being paid to take a dive against McGregor at UFC 246, but Cerrone says that those rumors aren’t true.
“Hell no, I’m not bowing down,” Cerrone told MMA Fighting. “There’s a bunch of sh*t going around, people keep telling me ‘I heard you’re getting paid to take a dive.’ There wouldn’t be enough money in the world for someone to pay me to take a dive. I could never look myself in the mirror if somebody paid me to take a dive. Sh*t, never happen. I’d rather fight for free than take money to f*cking lose. That’s not me. I’m going to fight my ass off like I do every time.”
This is a big fight for both Cerrone and McGregor, as Cerrone is currently riding a two bout losing streak and McGregor hasn’t won a contest in over three years.
Despite the recent losing skid, one thing Cerrone is confident of is that he is still near the top of the lightweight division.
“I’m still No. 4 or 5 or whatever the hell I am. It’s not like I’m getting beat up by bums, somewhere down there getting tumbleweeded in the rankings pool,” Cerrone said. “I don’t know where I’m sitting but I’m still at the top of the list.”
UFC 246 takes place on Saturday, January 18 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
