Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone is not ready to pass the torch yet: 'I'm going to get the belt. It's going to happen

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is down, but he is far from excluded.

Saturday night, Cerrone suffered his second consecutive loss after falling to Justin Gaethje in the first round of the TKO, following a barrage of straight hands that placed him face down, first on the ground .

Cerrone is not ready to give up on his dream of becoming a UFC lightweight world champion one day.

The defeat against Gaethje lengthens a bit the road to the title.

"I have not yet felt like passing the torch," Cerrone said in his post-fight interview. "I'm going to have the belt. It will happen. I guess I just slipped a bit in the rankings.

"I will be back. I am going to train hard and I am going to get it. This is the last thing I have to do with my inheritance. "

Although he did not become a champion, Cerrone put together an enviable resume with the highest number of wins, the highest number of finishes and the highest number of post-fight bonuses in the history of the world. # 39; UFC.

In fact, many fighters on the UFC list have stated that they would like to create the kind of legacy that Cerrone has built over the past eight years in the US. ;Octagon.

"It's really cool, I see people trying to fight a lot and trying to be like, 'we try to do it the way you are' and it's cool to have that legacy that people want adapt, "said Cerrone," I'm happy, I love this sport. "There is nowhere else I would prefer to go tonight."

Although he appreciates these compliments, Cerrone is not ready to give up his quest for the title simply because he has lost his last two consecutive bouts.

"You can have the greatest heritage in the world, but if I do not have a belt, I'm just a little behind," Cerrone said. "Now, I think about everything, it's the only thing I want."

That said, Cerrone added that if his career ended without the UFC title wrapped around his waist, he would not feel like a failure because that's another lesson to remember: he can pass it on to his son.

"On the other hand, if everyone says you are trying so hard and you never get it, will it crush you? No, I tried, said Cerrone. "It's something I can teach my boy. I have tried. I gave him hell. "