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GDANSK, Poland – Donald Cerrone knows he has a lot more to lose than gain in his UFC Fight Night 118 headliner with Darren Till, but he doesn’t seem to care.

An established fan-favorite like Cerrone (32-9 MMA, 19-6 UFC) agreeing to fight an unheralded opponent like Till (15-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) is an increasingly rare occurrence in the modern UFC. Top fighters are largely concerned about facing someone who has a ranking next to their name; they aren’t as willing to take the risk of fighting lesser-known opposition compared to when official rankings didn’t exist in the sport.

Cerrone, who meets Till in Saturday’s welterweight main event on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed card at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, isn’t one to fret over such things. His enjoyment of the sport trumps the politics of enhancing or weakening his position in the division, and he said that’s for the best, because fighters who dwell on their place in the rankings don’t appear much better off.

“The rankings don’t matter,” Cerrone told MMAjunkie. “I feel like in the last year the rankings don’t (expletive) matter anyway, right? ‘Cowboy’ takes a fight with somebody (unranked), and they’re like, ‘What the (expletive)?’ But someone who has the title can fight anybody they want, and it’s like, ‘Ah, that’s just a good fight.’ Come on, man. It seems like the last year the rankings aren’t mattering. I just needed an opponent.”

Cerrone, No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, said he would’ve embraced a matchup with a ranked foe, but bringing those fights to fruition is apparently a lot easier said than done. An unranked opponent like Till jumps at the opportunity to fight Cerrone because it could completely change the trajectory of his career, but athletes already established near the top of the sport aren’t as willing.

According to “Cowboy,” there were several offers extended to elite members of the 170-pound division. No one was biting at the chance to compete against him, though, and as someone who truly embodies the “anyone, any time, anywhere” mentality, that’s how he ended up in the showdown with Till.

“The MMA audience is so stupid,” Cerrone said. “They just think because a guy says, ‘I’ll fight anybody,’ that means they’ll do it. No, that’s not true. They said they’ll fight anybody in public, and then when they get the call and their manager sits down with them and they’re like, ‘They offered us ‘Cowboy’ and their manager says, ‘Stylistically I don’t know if that’s a good matchup for you right now, you’re coming off a loss’ and blah, blah blah.

“Then they say they didn’t turn it down, but their management turned it down and it’s not them doing it, ‘I didn’t turn it down.’ To me that drives me (expletive) through the wall.”

Cerrone, 34, said his trouble getting an opponent makes him respect Till, 24, for stepping up to the plate. Although the Brit has infinitely more to gain than lose in the matchup, he’s also putting a lot of stock into his own ability to take a giant step up in competition and beat someone of Cerrone’s caliber.

Fighting is a game of taking chances, though, and as someone who has taken many during his own career, Cerrone said he appreciates Till following suit.

“For Darren to say, ‘You know what, I’ve only had a couple fights, I’ll fight a (expletive) legend, let’s go.’ Dude, right on, bro,” Cerrone said. “I was that son-of-a-(expletive) kid. I remember taking those fights. My hat’s off to the kid. The steam’s running on him. Good opportunity for him. But people say no all the time. It’s (expletive) asinine to me. Career-wise, is this a smart fight moving forward in my direction in the rankings? Probably not. This does me nothing. It does something for Darren if he wins. He could do some serious leap-frogging, but for me, nothing. Why be the guy that says I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, anytime – oh, except for him? If I say that I have to live by it.”

Ultimately Cerrone is just happy to return to the octagon, regardless of who is standing on the other side. He enters UFC Fight Night 118 on a losing skid for the first time in his career, and his hope is to fix that on Saturday, especially because he had to travel a long way from Albuquerque, N.M.

Cerrone has never fought outside North America in his 35 appearances to date under the UFC or WEC banners. That will change for the fight with Till, but Cerrone’s approach won’t. Gdansk is a long way from home, but Cerrone said his true home is inside the cage.

“It’s crazy sleeping in a hotel room,” Cerrone said. “The UFC, when I was trying to get a fight, they had a lineup of all the little places they offered me, there was no Europe on there. I was like, ‘What about the Poland card?’ And (UFC matchmaker) Sean (Shelby) was like, ‘Wait, you’ll go overseas?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ He’s like, ‘It’s on Fight Pass.’ I said, ‘I don’t care, man. You guys really don’t understand. It doesn’t matter. I’ll fight the first fight of the night. It doesn’t have to be main event, Poland, pay-per-view. I don’t care.’

“It makes no difference to me. This is what I love to do. I enjoy this whole process, being over here, being in Poland, walking around, checking everything out. Then I get to fight and do what I love. Are you kidding me? Come on.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 118, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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