Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is moving forwards not back, which is why he has no plans to return to his old traing camp at the Jackson-Wink academy in New Mexico.
Last year ahead of his scheduled fight against Mike Perry at welterweight, Cerrone unleashed on coach Mike Winkeljohn while appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, which ignited a war of words between the two sides.
While Cerrone maintained a good working relationship with head coach Greg Jackson, his problems with Winkeljohn ultimately ended with the veteran UFC and WEC contender leaving the team.
Cerrone ultimately won the fight with Perry and then returned to the lightweight division for his last fight where he defeated Alexander Hernandez by TKO.
When asked if the relationship with the gym had changed after that fight, Cerrone offered a fiery and emphatic response.
“Hell no. You burn a bridge with me, you’re dead my friend,” Cerrone said during a fan Q&A last week in Australia.
Now training full time out of his own “BMF Ranch” in New Mexico, Cerrone is happy with his current situation and doesn’t have any plans to ever return to the Jackson-Wink gym in the future.
Cerrone says he’s tailor made his training camp to benefit him the most, which is probably what all fighters should do for their careers.
Cerrone has built a massive complex where he can eat, sleep and train year round while bringing in the best coaches and training partners to help him prepare for an upcoming fight.
“I just don’t understand why people don’t invest more in themselves,” Cerrone said. “Every time I got money I would just keep building and building and building and building this compound because it’s all about me. It’s very selfish in this sport. I think it’s a good idea.
“I just walk out of my bed, go to my backyard and train. I fly all my coaches in, s—t it works for me. I got a [fridge] full of Budweiser and a house full of coaches. That’s what we do.”
The results definitely paid off for Cerrone’s last fight and he’s already anxiously awaiting his next opponent later this year.
Cerrone has been tied to a potential showdown against former two division champion Conor McGregor for several weeks. Both fighters have asked for the matchup but it remains to be seen if they will ultimately meet in a lightweight clash later this year.
