Donald Cerrone says he almost called off UFC Singapore main event with Leon Edwards due to illness

Saturday’s UFC Singapore main event almost didn’t come to fruition.

The welterweight contest between longtime UFC contender Donald Cerrone and rising prospect Leon Edwards was close to being cancelled just hours before its scheduled main event slot at UFC Singapore, which took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

In his post-fight interview, following a unanimous decision loss to Edwards, Cerrone said that he was feeling sick the day of the fight. Later, at the post-fight press conference, “Cowboy” revealed the severity of his illness.

“This is the first time in my career that I’ve ever almost called Dana White and said, ‘I’m not coming to work today,’” Cerrone told reporters in Singapore. “And then I looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Man, you’re not that guy. Just go.’ But that had nothing to do with the way I fought. I’m proud of myself actually for getting in there and fighting, so I’m happy, I don’t have any remorse. I don’t think I lost any stock, so all good.”

Cerrone said he was throwing up and feeling sick from the time he woke up Saturday morning all the way into the late afternoon, just a few hours from his bout.

“I was just sick, throwing up, just feeling... I couldn’t get out of bed, man,” Cerrone recalled. “I was just feeling like sh*t all morning, all day. I just wasn’t feeling like showing up to work is what I was feeling. It’s the closest in my career I’ve ever been to calling the boss and say, ‘Hey, man, I’m not going to make it.’ And then I just rolled over at five o'clock and looked at the mirror and said, ‘You’re not that guy, so get up and lets go,’ and here I am.”

With the loss to Edwards, Cerrone is now 1-4 in his last five bouts and 33-11 in his overall professional MMA career. The 35-year-old fighter admits he’s on the later stage of his career, but will regardless look to continue fighting for a while more. He hopes to fight two more times this year.

“I’m getting old in this sport and I love every minute of it, man,” Cerrone said. “But maybe the new kids are coming, maybe they’re not, I don’t know, but there are sure tough guys out there. There’s not enough people like me that give those guys a chance, so I’m glad I can be the guy that’s in there and I’ll fight any of you guys. Come on, let’s have fun. Tonight, the smiles on my face are more than you can even imagine. The pasion I have out there I love it to the core, this is what I enjoy doing, man.

“If tonight was my last fight, I’d be upset, but I’m going to go until the UFC says, ‘‘Cowboy’ enough, enough, enough.’”