By FCF Staff

As Donald Cerrone prepares to return to the UFC this year, Stephen Thompson is proposing he should be the man to welcome “Cowboy” back to the cage.

The now 41-year-old Cerrone (36-17) announced he was retiring in July, 2022, following his submission loss to Jim Miller. But, in late 2024, the legend announced he was ending his retirement.

More recently, Thompson appeared on the Overdogs Podcast. While discussing his next bout, the 42-year-old relayed that he’s hoping to fight Cerrone in “Cowboy’s” Octagon return (quotes via MMA Fighting.com).

“…So maybe I’m thinking April-May time, I think would be cool just because I’m a huge fan of Cerrone and he comes from that old school era that I kind of came from almost 13-14 years ago, so it’s cool that he wants to jump back out there.

“I thought it would be awesome if he doesn’t want to cut the weight to 155, maybe to make that fight at 170, I thought it would be really cool to have two veterans like that step back out there and face off against each other. But nothing booked yet, but that’s what I’m kind of shooting for, that April-May time.”

Thompson (17-8-1) is coming off a knockout loss to Joaquin Buckley in October and is 1-4 in his last 5 bouts. Cerrone, meanwhile, is currently on a 7 fight, winless streak.