UFC Cowboy lands in Manila

MANILA, Philippines –  Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is not the typical UFC fighter when he's outside the octagon.

"Fighting is what I do but it's not who I am," said the 35-year-old, who has posted UFC numbers that's just hard to match.

With 20 wins, he is tied with only two others, great ones like George St. Pierre and Michael Bisping, when it comes to the most number of victories in the UFC.

Cerrone is in the country for a quick three-day promo tour of his upcoming UFC Fight Night 132 welterweight clash with Leon Edwards in Singapore on june 23.

There, he get gets a crack at history.

"I'm going to train hard for this," said the ex-kickboxer who, when outside the zone, goes sky-diving and jumps off tall buildings, does a lot of horseback riding, goes hunting and also is into snowboarding and wakeboarding.

"Anything crazy," he said during Friday's welcome press conference at the 45th floor of the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas.

If he had a parachute, the native of Denver, Colorado would have jumped out the window of the fabulous hotel.

He arrived at the press conference wearing his signature cowboy hat, crocodile-skin boots, a UFC shirt, blue jeans and a belt buckle larger than his fist, and was introduced to the press by Cignal TV channel manager Miguel Vea.

"He's just an adrenaline junkie," said Kevin Chan, UFC vice president for Asia-Pacific, who came with the fighter who has a net worth of approximately $5 million.

Cerrone is married, and a first child is on the way.

Today, he holds a public workout at SM Megamall. 

So far, he's liking his stay in Manila, and hoped that one day he could fight before Filipino fight fans, and get to watch some cockfighting.

"I'd fight anybody, anywhere, anytime," he said.

Cerrone knows just enough about his opponent other than being 26 years old and born in Kingston, Jamaica but is now a British national and with a UFC record of 15-3.

"He's young, up and coming and he's an arrogant little kid. He calls me old. Unfortunately, I have more wins than him," said Cerrone.

There lies the difference.