Donald Cerrone

Donald Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American retired mixed martial artist, actor, and former professional kickboxer. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Cerrone was born in Denver, Colorado and is of Irish and Italian descent. At a young age, Cerrone was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder but never received treatment for it. Growing up he was considered a troubled child. He would eventually start Street fighting and would often end up in jail overnight. When Cerrone was about 16 his parents were fed up with his behavior and sent him off to go live with his paternal grandmother Jerry Cerrone. Donald claimed that Jerry took him in with open arms. She would sometimes bail Donald and his friends out of jail after they got into another fight and according to Cerrone himself that the next morning she would never bring up exactly what happened the night before, she would just repeat the phrase "you know what you did" and leave it at that. Cerrone attended Air Academy High School, where he began professional bull riding. At the age of 20, Cerrone began training in kickboxing and then later Muay Thai. After winning a few kickboxing competitions, Cerrone pursued a career in mixed martial arts (MMA).