Donald Cerrone details the tight bond he shares with current UFC interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez: “He’s been a big part of my entire career”
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has discussed his bond with interim UFC Featherweight Champion Yair Rodriguez.
Cerrone and Rodriguez have been chummy over the years, and “Cowboy” says it’s due to their time training together. During a media scrum, Cerrone told reporters that he hasn’t forgotten training with “El Pantera” before the Mexican star even signed a UFC contract (via MMAJunkie.com).
“Yair Rodriguez, that’s my dude,” Cerrone told reporters backstage. “Him winning the interim title made me so happy. I remember training with him before he was in the UFC and yes, he’s hard to deal with – I went to bat with him on two different occasions with Hunter. Like, that’s my dude. Let’s figure it out. He lost his passport, he couldn’t get a visa. It was a whole bunch of – but he means business. When he goes out there, you see him throw and be ready, and like wow, he’s the one.”
Cerrone also mentioned that Rodriguez was always committed in the gym, and even went the extra mile to meet with him for training sessions.
“He’s been a big part of my entire career,” Cerrone added. “I would literally call him like, ‘Hey, we got another camp, you want to come down? I know you also have a fight.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll be right there.’ And he would literally just drive from Mexico to my house, and he would come train.”
“Cowboy” said that Rodriguez was his number one fan and was willing to do any of his training routines from swimming to lifting to riding bikes. Donald Cerrone expressed joy watching the success that Rodriguez has been having inside the Octagon.
Rodriguez is hoping to become the undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion when he meets current main titleholder Alex Volkanovski later this year. The bout is reportedly being targeted for UFC 290 on July 8.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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