Stephen Thompson might have lost to Joaquin Buckley at UFC 307, but his enthusiasm to fight again has not diminished. He recently spoke about fighting against ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone but unfortunately, that might not be possible because Dana White has no plans to make him return. What happened was that a fan account on X posted, “Hear me out on these legends match up… @WonderboyMMA vs @Cowboycerrone.”

To this, ‘Wonderboy’ replied, “I’ll be ready when he is. Would love to share the cage with a legend! A couple of vets putting on a show.” However, his excitement might get squashed because White is not a fan of Donald Cerrone wanting to fight again. As you might be aware, most of the MMA retirements do not last very long and many fighters decide on returning to their arena. For instance, Amanda Nunes and Glover Teixeira hint at coming out of retirement for another fight.

However, for ‘Cowboy’ Hall of Famer Cerrone, the 38-fight UFC veteran is thinking of two more fights years after he hung up his gloves at UFC 276 in 2022. The UFC CEO, on the other hand, does not agree with these dreams. Seeing that Cerrone left UFC with a 7-fight losing streak that started with a doctor’s stoppage against Tony Ferguson, Boss is not keen on returning him.

During the DWCS post-fight presser, White said, “Love him, hate that. He retired. For what? What’s left to prove? If you want to make money, let’s figure something else out.” He addressed how fighters have a hard time retiring from their beloved sport and walking away is difficult. White explained, “When you show ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone on the screen, the place goes nuts. I mean, he’s beloved. He’s beloved because the guy goes to war, and he’s been in wars for years, and it’s time to not go to war anymore, man. There’s nothing left to prove for him.”

However, Dana White did say that he would find an alternative for the 41-year-old even if he cannot fight. He gave the final answer for Cerrone’s retirement though.

Dana White gives ultimate verdict for ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone’s retirement

Cerrone decided to retire after his defeat to ͏Jim Mil͏ler͏ a͏t U͏FC ͏27͏6 and he initially embraced his ‘Cowboy’ persona after leaving MMA but he thinks he still has fight left in him. This is why he wants to have two more fights inside the octagon. However, Dana White was more towards an alternative for him and said so in the post-fight presser after the Dana White Contender Series.

The boss explained, “He should have been thinking about it two years ago, but he didn’t, and he needs to. We’re here for him; we love Cerrone, so we’ll help in any way we can. I don’t want to see him get punched in the face anymore.”

Cerrone and White are pretty good friends and the boss does not want the 41-year-old to be bloody and beaten up again. White never said he would block Cerrone’s return, but he did express that he does not like the idea of his friend getting beaten up inside the octagon again. Do you think ‘Cowboy’ will come back? Tell us in the comments below.