Donald Cerrone seemingly meant serious business when he said he's making his return to active competition to set new records.
In October, Cerrone revealed his eagerness to step back into the UFC Octagon, aiming to achieve the impressive feat of 50 career bouts under the Zuffa banner — an accomplishment that already includes 48 combined fights in the UFC and WEC.
However, one significant hurdle to Cerrone's comeback was his candid admission of working with a company for Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and using other steroids in recent years. But that obstacle is now behind him, as the 41-year-old from Colorado has officially rejoined the UFC’s anti-doping agency testing pool, Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD).
"Cowboy" confirmed the update during his recent appearance on The Pacman Jones Show, revealing that once he's cleared by the testing agency, he plans to pursue his goal of fighting just two more times — likely in the middleweight division.
I just re-entered the testing pool so I have to be six months clean," Cerrone said. "Probably June or July we’ll make the comeback. I’m coming back for two more. Just two more. I want 50 fights [under the] UFC. I promised the wife no matter what happens, no matter the outcomes – two more and that’s it... I think it’ll be [at middleweight] is what I’m coming back at. We’ll see my weight as I start to pick up my training.
Cerrone retired from active competition after a challenging run of six consecutive losses in the Octagon, with the ultimate setback being a second-round submission defeat to fellow veteran Jim Miller at UFC 276 in July 2022.
Over the course of his storied career, “Cowboy” racked up an extraordinary 18 post-fight bonuses, ranking second in UFC history only behind Charles Oliveira. Moreover, he shares the spot for the second-most wins in UFC history with 23, tied with Andrei Arlovski, and holds the second-highest number of finishes, with 16.