A victorious McGregor has a lot of respect for Cerrone, as he believes the UFC should give Cerrone a belt for all the things that the fighter has accomplished in the promotion.
“The records that man has, give him some sort of belt,” McGregor said at the UFC 246 post-fight press conference (via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “Seriously. You give belts out, this, that and the other, and they’re even creating them these days. What a phenomenal legacy Donald has, and it’s an honor to share the octagon with that man. Seriously, I mean that. I’ve shared the octagon with some great UFC fighters, and Donald is up there with the best of them all. I’m very, very proud to share the octagon with him. Phenomenal records, I can only hope and dream to achieve the records he has.”
Cerrone does hold several records in the UFC, including the most fights in the promotion and most head kick knockouts in the UFC.
Of all the records that Cerrone holds in the UFC, it is the head kick knockout record that McGregor’s the most impressed with.
“I knew Donald has the most head-kick knockouts in UFC history,” McGregor said. “I was saying to Megan (Olivi) backstage, that’s equivalent to a world title for me. To have a record like that, most head-kick knockouts but at the same time – and I knew he was planning to knock me out with a head kick. Everyone, ‘Oh, what if Donald catches the head kick’ and all this. I knew this was what Donald would have been envisioning and his team.”
The UFC did award Jorge Masvidal the BMF Championship for his victory at UFC 244, so Cerrone being awarded a belt from the promotion doesn’t seem like much of a foreign concept.
