Issue 075
May 2011
As the old cowboy saying goes, ‘When you’re throwin’ your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.’ That’s exactly how it goes down at ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Leonard Garcia’s TapouT Ranch
Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Leonard Garcia certainly are living the dream. Tucked just outside of Albuquerque – located conveniently close to heralded coach Greg Jackson’s training center – the pair’s TapouT Ranch plays host to MMA fighters on a daily basis, all keen to come taste the Wild West flavor of New Mexico’s rootin’est tootin’est training camp.
“We always had people around us coming into the area for training camps and we just thought, ‘Why not find somewhere we can all stay?’ It seems crazy but it’s a good time!” Cerrone guffaws. “Then we thought, we’ve got all this land, we should build us a gym too!’”
And although the pair [as the cowboy saying goes] had only a short rope, they threw a wide loop, building the whole ranch themselves by hand. “I’m a master plumber and electrician now,” laughs Cerrone.
The ranch is designed as somewhere fighters can train and let off steam. It boasts a 25ft cage, a wide selection of training equipment and dorms that can accommodate 16 professional warriors should they want to saddle up for the night. Time on the ranch is available to all fighters with a reasonable level of competency, upon application.
“You gotta have some fights and knowledge, but come down and get it on,” says Cerrone. “Having guys come is a bonus because at Jackson’s you get in kind of the same rhythm with the guys because you learn what they do and what they don’t do. Here, you learn a lot ‘cos you got new guys coming in every month bringing new techniques and training.” Being situated so close to Greg Jackson’s training center, every morning from Monday to Thursday the ranch hands will head off to Jackson’s for an elite session. Long after high noon, accompanied by many from Greg’s gym, they return for another session at the ranch and a taste of that frontier feeling. “It’s a two way thing,” says Garcia. “In the evenings, we’re freeing up Greg’s gym a bit so the people who are paying good money to be in his class don’t have to move to a smaller area because it’s overcrowded.”
As the ranch is located 2000ft above Albuquerque, it could prove an impossible feat for fighters to travel to from Jackson’s, but ‘Cowboy’ and Garcia have thought of it all. “We bought this big yellow school bus and put a bunch of couches in it and then kitted it out with an Apple TV so if one of the local guys has a fight we’ll all jump in it and drive to it,” says Cerrone. “It’s easier just to pay one gas tank and everyone load up on the bus and drive down to the gym. That’s a hoot in itself, just partying on the bus.”
If a magic hi-tech school bus doesn’t attract fighters from lands afar, then the ranch also holds a wide selection of dirt bikes, quad bikes and guns. “We get a lot of east coast guys who come out, ride the horses, shoot the guns and just have fun,” says Cerrone. “If we need to release stress we’ll go out and play on the bikes for a while, get it out of our mind and then the next day we’re fresh again.”
Yet it’s not all fun down on the farm. Cerrone insists that fighters must go to the ranch to primarily train rather than party. “This isn’t The Ultimate Fighter house,” says Cerrone. “You can’t just come here to drink and get crazy. If you get f**ked you have to leave.”
With such a number of warriors under one roof, all requiring top nutrition, fighters never have to worry about a shortage of protein. “We got plenty of food,” says Cerrone. “We got pigs to eat or raise to sell, we got chicken and turkey eggs, we got cattle we butcher and eat and, finally, horses that we ride. Though we don’t eat the horses.”
?Ranger Up
Hats off to the Donald: the former WEC lightweight contender has broken into the UFC ranks with his usual thrilling style
As the morning’s first sunlight peeks above the New Mexico horizon, Donald Cerrone is already on horseback. Sure, the 29-year-old would prefer to sleep in, especially today. Unfortunately, he knows that’s not an option. “When I have a fight coming up, I have a guy that manages the ranch,” Cerrone says. “But otherwise, I’m riding horses and feeding the animals everyday. That’s a way of life. It’s what you’ve got to do. No matter if I stay out all night or not, the animals have to get fed. That’s the thing. At 6:30 in the morning, they’re hungry, and it’s the same thing at 4:30 at night. You’ve got to do it.”
You see, for the UFC lightweight, ‘Cowboy’ isn’t simply a nickname; it’s a way of life. Cerrone is the real deal, and he’s got the goats, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, geese, cows and horses – not to mention 40 acres of land in Edgewood, NM – to prove it. And he’s just getting started. “We have three houses out there, so we’ve got a little compound,” says Cerrone. “I’m also about to buy the 500 acres next door.”
In fact, ‘Cowboy’ was Cerrone’s moniker far before he ever embarked on a fighting career that includes a 28-0 professional kickboxing mark in addition to his MMA record (14-3-0 [1 NC]). “That’s been my name since I was little,” says Cerrone. “My grandma calls me ‘Cowboy.’” And in addition to issuing Cerrone his iconic nickname, it was Cerrone’s grandparents that also instilled his passion for life on the ranch.
“I grew up with money,” says Cerrone. “I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth, so I don’t have a rough story to tell you about how my dad left me, and I grew up on the streets. But when I was a kid, I moved to Oregon with my grandparents, and they lived on an elk ranch, so that’s kind of where it all started. Every morning I had to get up before school and feed thousands of elk. It was different. We were 60 miles away from anything. It’s been a way of life for me ever since.”
Of course, Cerrone’s focus isn’t all livestock and cattle, as British slugger Paul Kelly recently discovered first-hand. Following a 10-fight stint in the recently merged World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotion, Cerrone made his Octagon debut against Kelly at UFC 126. Like he had done five times under the WEC banner, Cerrone delivered the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ with a second-round submission win. “I was honored that they didn’t just give me some bum to fight,” says Cerrone. “They gave me a guy they thought was worthy, and obviously I did something right to get on Spike TV.”
Following more than three years of fighting for the WEC, the fight was Cerrone’s first appearance on the world’s biggest stage for MMA. While thrilled to finally be in the spotlight, Cerrone says he was comfortable from start to finish. “I felt great,” says Cerrone. “I didn’t feel like any pressure was really there. I feel like it’s been a pretty smooth transition. Everything in the background is still the same. It’s just the three letters that changed. I think the guys in the UFC are thinking they’ve got fresh meat coming over, that it’s like little brothers coming over. No sir. We’re coming to make a statement. We’re not the little brothers. We have the same skill level, and it feels good to be in the UFC.”
Cerrone, who has now won three-straight fights, finds new life in the UFC after challenging unsuccessfully for the WEC belt on three separate occasions. On the top of his hit list is American Top Team’s Cole Miller, who once beat Cerrone’s training partner and fellow TapouT Ranch owner, Leonard Garcia. Of course, with Miller seeking to rebound from a recent loss to Matt Wiman, a date with Cerrone wouldn’t seem to fit into the UFC’s matchmaking philosophy. Nevertheless, Cerrone guarantees he’ll get his man someday. “Just because Cole Miller just got beat up doesn’t mean I beat him up,” he says. “I’m still coming for him. Three wins, two losses, I don’t care. You’re still going to get your ass kicked. It doesn’t matter. Someday, it might not be next, but one day he’ll get it.”
A date with Miller may indeed be in his destiny, but in the meantime Cerrone is planning on raising a few more animals on his New Mexico ranch. “We’re going to set up a Muay Thai camp and try and get three or four traditional Thai camps going on this summer,” Cerrone said. “I think that’s the missing link. I was watching the UFC on Spike TV the other day, and I thought, ‘Damn. Nobody kicks, ever.’ A lot of people just rely on their jiu-jitsu and wrestling. I think if we can offer good striking camps, I think we can turn the page and get this sport to the next level.”
With 12 submission wins in his professional MMA career, Cerrone might not immediately strike you as the sport’s spokesperson for an increased focus on stand-up technique, but the former kickboxer says it’s time for a return to his roots. “We’re going to bring top-level instructors,” says Cerrone. “I’d like to think I’m a top-level instructor, too. I think if not the best, I’ve got at least one of the best striking games at 155 pounds. I really think people should do kickboxing fights before they come over to MMA. Kickboxing needs to make a comeback. Either way, it’s just going to be cool teaching people the way – to get people off wrestling, off jiu-jitsu.”
Straight-forward aggression with elbows and knees flying from all angles, Cerrone wants to create a movement in MMA and he wants to lead the charge. “I go in there and throw down,” says Cerrone. “That’s just how I fight, and I plan on fighting that way every time.” Part teacher, part brawler, all Cowboy. That’s Donald Cerrone. “I’ve been like that my whole life, and that’s who I’m going to continue to be,” he says. “You don’t change – or hopefully you don’t change – because the lights are on you. You live the life you’re living and try and stay who you are. That’s me. Right now, I’m living in the now. My goal is to buy the 500 acres next to me. Whatever that takes for me to do, that’s what I’m doing.”
The $75,000 bonus check Cerrone received for his UFC 126 Fight of the Night will certainly help him in that goal, and if Cowboy stays true to his promise, there are plenty more of those on the way.
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