Donald Cerrone is heading to the UFC Hall of Fame, and couldn’t be happier.

The announcement was made during the UFC on ESPN 43 event at AT&T Center in San Antonio, catching Cerrone (36-17 MMA, 23-14 UFC) by surprise. Cerrone’s wife and kids came out to join him cageside during the announcement, which was an added element to the moment of being added to the 2023 class.

“Throughout my career, everyone says ‘Future Hall of Famer, future Hall of Famer.’ It just like rattles off, you know?” Cerrone told reporters backstage. “It’s just words. It’s not a real thing until it’s a real thing, you know? It’s crazy. Man, I’m taken away and honored, to be honest. I don’t really have words to express. … I had no clue my family was even here, so that was another surprise.”

One of the sport’s most popular fighters thanks to his fight style and willingness to take on anyone at any time, will soon have his names among other legends of the sport when he is officially inducted later this summer along with Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, and Jens Pulver.

“Now it’s sinking in to be like, ‘Yeah, I’m in the Hall,’” Cerrone said. “It’s cool, it’s an honor, man. I mean, you look across any major league sport, the Hall of Famers, that’s an important thing, man. To be with the greats of Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Urijah (Faber), the list goes – it’s not that big of a list, to be honest with you, in our game. To be hanging on the wall at the PI, it’s going to be cool.”

“Cowboy” called it a career after his final fight against Jim Miller at UFC 276 last July, ending a pro MMA career that began in 2006. As for what Cerrone misses about being an active fighter, it’s about everything except actually stepping into the cage.

“I miss the camaraderie, I miss all you guys back here, I miss this, I miss the training with the groups and getting ready, but being in there and fighting, I don’t (miss it),” Cerrone said. “It was time. It was time to bow out, and like I said, I’m going to Hollywood, man. That’s my next plan, that’s the next mission. I enjoy moving forward with all that, and loving the adventure I’m on now, but there’s days where I think back like, ‘Man, do we have one more in us? Do go back for two and have 50?’”

While Cerrone admits he contemplates that return to reach a total of 50 walks to cage across his WEC and UFC days, his return is very unlikely considering his new goals and the pesky detail of passing a USADA test.

“I got my hair done, so my hair is growing in, and got on steroids, so I couldn’t come back if I wanted to right now,” Cerrone said with a smile. “I feel good right now. I’m healthy, happy, and just enjoying a lot of time with the kids and them growing up with the family, and like I said, chasing Hollywood – which is a lot like starting from the very beginning of wanting to be a UFC fighter again, is how I feel. I just re-entered that realm again, so let’s strap the boots on, let’s go.”