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Donald Anthony Cerrone (born March 29, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist and Muay Thai kickboxer who fights out of Albuquerque, New Mexico and currently competes as a lightweight in the UFC. Cerrone is currently ranked the #10 lightweight in the world by Sherdog.

Mixed martial arts career
Donald started his career in Commerce City, Colorado at a gym called Freedom Fighters, winning his first 25 Muay Thai bouts. Cerrone began training with Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine, Georges St. Pierre, Leonard Garcia (who would become his good friend) and other skilled MMA fighters at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He was featured on the Versus television series TapouT, where he was sponsored before his fight with Anthony Njokuani. Cerrone won the fight in the first round with a triangle choke.

Cerrone is currently sponsored by MusclePharm, and managed by Harvick Sports Marketing.

World Extreme Cagefighting
Cerrone was signed to fight in the WEC. His first fight in the promotion was against Kenneth Alexander. Originally a win via submission in 0:56 seconds of the first round, the decision was changed to a no contest when Cerrone tested positive for the banned substance hydrochlorothiazide.

Cerrone was scheduled to face Rich Crunkilton at WEC 34, but Crunkilton was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by Danny Castillo. Cerrone won the bout via armbar in the first round.

At WEC 38 he fought WEC lightweight champion, Jamie Varner, losing via technical split decision. The fight was highly competitive and won the Fight of the Night award. However, the fight was stopped prematurely in the fifth round when Cerrone hit Varner's temple with an illegal knee while Varner was still on the ground. Varner was given time to recover, but he was unable to continue, noting that he had double vision and had sustained a broken hand. Cerrone was again scheduled to face Rich Crunkilton on June 7, 2009 at WEC 41, but Crunkilton was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by James Krause. Cerrone defeated Krause via first round submission.

Cerrone and Varner had agreed to a rematch, tentatively at WEC 43, but Varner was unable to receive medical clearance as a result from his hand injury. Cerrone fought Benson Henderson for the WEC Interim Lightweight Championship on October 10, 2009 at WEC 43 in San Antonio, Texas, losing by unanimous decision. The fight was awarded Fight of the Year honors by Sherdog for 2009. Cerrone credited Henderson for being "a hell of a fighter" and conceded that he was slow to start the action, which may have cost him the match.

Cerrone defeated Ed Ratcliff via third round submission at WEC 45 on December 19, 2009. The bout also earned Cerrone Fight of the Night honors.

Cerrone fought Benson Henderson in a rematch of their 2009 fight of the year, this time for the WEC Lightweight Championship on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48. Cerrone lost via first round guillotine choke submission.

Cerrone faced rival Jamie Varner in their highly anticipated rematch on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51. He won the fight via unanimous decision, winning all 3 rounds. In between rounds, there were often many shoves and obscenities echanged by both fighters, including a shove at the very end of the match. In the post fight interview, Cerrone declared he'd be willing to do a rematch in Arizona, Varner's home state, to settle their score once and for all. The bout won Fight of the Night honors.

Cerrone instead faced Chris Horodecki on December 16, 2010 at WEC 53. He won via submission in the second round with a triangle choke.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

Cerrone faced Paul Kelly on February 5, 2011 at UFC 126, replacing an injured Sam Stout. Cerrone defeated Kelly via tapout due to a rear naked choke. For their performance, both fighters earned "Fight of the Night" honors.

Cerrone was expected to face Mac Danzig on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131. However, Danzig was forced out of the bout with a chest injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Vagner Rocha. Cerrone won the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26), having neutralized his opponent's ability to get close and grapple by way of punishing leg kicks. During the post-fight interview Cerrone apologized for his performance, admitting he "fought to not lose, not to win."

Cerrone was expected to face Paul Taylor on August 14, 2011 at UFC on Versus 5, replacing an injured John Makdessi. However, Taylor was forced out of the bout with a foot injury and replaced by Charles Oliveira. He didn’t waste much time in the fight, landing a hook to the body of Oliveira that dropped him. He then swarmed Oliveira, defeating him via TKO three minutes into the opening round, earning Knockout of Night honors for the performance.

Cerrone faced Dennis Siver on October 29, 2011 at UFC 137, replacing Sam Stout. Cerrone defeated Siver via first round submission, earning Submission of the Night honors.

Cerrone lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 141 via unanimous decision, in a performance that earned both participants Fight of the Night honors. Despite knocking Diaz off of his feet multiple times with leg kicks, Cerrone could not offset the volume punches from Diaz, as Diaz landed 82% of the strikes he threw en route to his victory over Cerrone. On his loss to Diaz Cerrone stated, "You know instinct, I think that's the thing a lot of people aren't doing. That's where I made the mistake in my last fight, is, you need to learn to turn your brain off and just go by reactions. Don't go in there and try and think and do things and fight with your brain, because that's the thing, I got angry and tried to kill him, and when you try to go [too] hard you just can't do it."

Cerrone was expected to face Yves Edwards on May 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. However, Edwards was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by Jeremy Stephens. Cerrone defeated Stephens by unanimous decision.

Cerrone fought and defeated Melvin Guillard via first round KO on August 11, 2012 at UFC 150. Guillard landed a strong left hand early in the first round that floored Cerrone, who got to his feet only to absorb several more strikes from the pursuing Guillard. Around a minute into the fight Cerrone threw a high kick which grazed Guillard's head - stunning him - and continued to drop him with a straight right which forced the stoppage. The performance earned Cerrone Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night honors. This was also Guillard's only knockout loss to date.

Cerrone faced Anthony Pettis on January 26, 2013 at UFC on Fox 6. Pettis won the fight by TKO in the first round, finishing Cerrone with a kick to the body. This marked the first time in his career that Cerrone lost via strikes.

Cerrone next faced Strikeforce veteran K. J. Noons on May 25, 2013 at UFC 160. He won the fight via dominant unanimous decision.

Cerrone is expected to face Rafael dos Anjos on August 28, 2013 at UFC on Fox Sports 1: 2.

Personal life
Cerrone currently lives on a 40 acre ranch and is looking to house several fighters that want to make a career in MMA. He calls it the "Cowboy Fight Ranch" and has dedicated an entire wing for fighters wanting to live and train with world class talent. He lives there with team mate, Leonard Garcia. Before he was a professional fighter he was a bull rider. He also cites fighter Duane Ludwig as one of his heroes.

Mixed martial arts

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * Fight of the Night (Three times)
 * Knockout of the Night (Two times)
 * Submission of the Night (One time)
 * World Extreme Cagefighting
 * Fight of the Night (Five times)
 * Sports Illustrated
 * 2009 Fight of the Year vs. Benson Henderson on October 10
 * Sherdog Awards
 * 2009 Fight of the Year vs. Benson Henderson on October 10
 * 2008 Round of the Year vs. Rob McCullough on November 5; Round 1
 * World MMA Awards
 * 2011 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
 * MMAFighting.com
 * 2009 Fight of the Year vs. Benson Henderson on October 10

Muay Thai

 * S-1 United States
 * 2006 S-1 United States Muay Thai Champion
 * Dominion Warrior
 * 2006 Dominion Warrior Light Heavyweight World Champion