Dana White warned fight fans not to sleep on Donald Cerrone when he fights Conor McGregor later this month.
Irish star McGregor makes his eagerly-anticipated UFC return on January 18 when he takes on 'Cowboy'.
Many are predicting a routine day at the office for McGregor and a world title shot later this year, but UFC chief White dismissed that notion.
"I don't know," White told ESPN when discussing the prospect of getting McGregor getting a title shot with a win over Cerrone. "We're getting through this one first. We'll get through the 'Cowboy' fight.
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"The level of disrespect being shown to 'Cowboy' through this whole thing. Apparently people forgot [how good he is].
"'Cowboy' has lost two in a row. But 'Cowboy' has lost two in a row and gone on unbelievable runs. So let's not count 'Cowboy' out."
Cerrone, 36, lost his last two bouts against Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson but is ranked No 5 in the lightweight division.
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"There's absolutely zero disappointment about the announcement of Cerrone," White told Yahoo Sports in a separate interview.
"First of all, I'm not even going to go into names or anything else, I have one of the largest casinos in the world asking for crazy s**t for that fight.
"Every celebrity on earth is already asking for tickets. This thing is going to sell out. Nobody is disappointed about Cerrone.
"Nobody is disappointed about Cerrone, I promise you that. I guarantee you it will be the biggest bar business - etc, etc.
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"If you look at the way we do our matchmaking, Conor lost his last fight. And Cerrone lost his last fight.
"These are two top-five guys fighting each other. Don't listen to the bulls**t."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Dana White