Donald Cerrone: Squabble over co-main status the holdup to Conor McGregor fight

It is becoming increasingly apparent that a snag over card placement is the biggest holdup to a potential Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone fight.

Just days after UFC color commentator Joe Rogan said on his podcast that a dispute between McGregor and the UFC over whether McGregor would appear in the co-feature spot is holding up a potential fight on July 6 in Las Vegas between the two popular competitors, Cerrone himself confirmed this is the case.

In a report on ESPN.com Thursday, Cerrone says that McGregor will only accept headline fights.

”Conor won’t fight unless it’s a main event,” Cerrone told ESPN. “I don’t know if it’s an ego thing or a status thing for him. I don’t give a s---. I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, and I stand by that all the time. I guess he’s a prima donna and only takes main event spots. I don’t know.”

The idea for the bout came about after Cerrone’s impressive victory over Alexander Hernandez at UFC Brooklyn on Jan. 19. McGregor tweeted his interest in the bout, and at first, they tried to make it for the April 13 card.

”We were all waiting on Conor for April, and he said he wasn’t ready,” Cerrone said. “I don’t know how in one breath you can say, ‘I’ll fight anyone, anytime, anywhere,’ and the next one say, ‘I’m not ready for that one.’

”I’m more annoyed that he went radio silent after putting it out. I get it, you want to stay relevant by putting it out there, but then you can’t go radio silent. Sack up, b----. Sign the f---ing paper.”

McGregor is responsible for five of the six biggest PPV sellers in UFC history, which includes both of his fights with Nate Diaz, neither of which were championship fights. His most recent bout, a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, did a record 2.4 M buys.

Cerrone, for his part, wants to fight on July 6, whether it’s McGregor or another opponent. Al Iaquinta has been mentioned as a possibility. Either way, Cerrone sounds tired of the drama.

”I call the UFC and tell them what to do, they tell me to shut the f*ck up and go sit in the corner,” Cerrone said. “I don’t have any say on that stuff. What I do know is July is the latest I’m fighting. That’s the f*ckng latest. I will not wait longer than that.”