Live crowd and stacked card - 'Cowboy' Donald Cerrone on what convinced him to fight at UFC 276

Donald Cerrone fights Jim Miller at UFC 276 [Cerrone image via Sportskeeda MMA on YouTube | UFC 276 poster via @ufc on Instagram | Crowd image via Getty]

Donald Cerrone will step inside the octagon for the 55th fight of his storied career this weekend, and he's looking forward to performing in front of a live audience. The veteran MMA fighter will take on Jim Miller in a preliminary card welterweight scrap at UFC 276. The pay-per-view event will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 2 and features a heavily stacked card.

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#UFC276 https://t.co/tyOF7KZrzT

Donald Cerrone was initially scheduled to fight fellow veteran Joe Lauzon at the recently concluded Fight Night event, which took place on June 18. However, Lauzon was forced to pull out due to a knee injury and the fight was shelved. Cerrone initially seemed reluctant to fight in July but eventually gave in due to a few reasons.

'Cowboy' revealed that he accepted the fight against Miller at UFC 276 because of the live sold-out crowd that'll be present inside the T-Mobile Arena during his fight. He said he couldn't leave the opportunity to compete on a star-studded and heavily stacked card during International Fight Week.

Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch, Cerrone said:

"I just want to fight in front of a live crowd, put me in the first fight, last fight, I don't care where on the card, I fight... People watching at home, it's cool but watching from the crowd, that's all like energy and the roar and the thunder, you know, that's a different thing... it's a big, big one you know, International Fight Week, giant card, in front of a million eyes so..."

Watch the interview below:

Donald Cerrone reveals why he chose to fight Jim Miller at welterweight

Donald Cerrone will fight Jim Miller on short-notice at welterweight on July 2nd, UFC 276.

Both fighters are tied for the most wins in UFC history at 23 wins.👀 #UFC276 https://t.co/0RsjqHoghB

Donald Cerrone usually competes in the lightweight division but chose to fight Jim Miller at welterweight instead. He recently underwent a grueling weight cut to make 155lbs for the fight against Joe Lauzon. Although the fight got canceled at the last moment, Cerrone had to cut weight regardless.

Just two weeks after the fight cancellation, Cerrone is set to compete again but doesn't want to cut weight too soon. He revealed that he called his opponent and informed him that he also doesn't need to cut weight because the fight will take place at 170lbs instead.

Donald Cerrone explained that both he and Miller are relatively small welterweights and aren't required to cut much weight to make the limit. They can now go into the fight in peak physical and mental condition, without having to put their bodies through the rigors of a weight cut. 'Cowboy' said:

"I called [Jim] Miller last Saturday and I said, 'Yeah buddy now you can eat' and he's like, 'Oh yeah.' I said, 'I'm just like, letting you know, I'm not gonna use it, I'm 168 right now or 169' and he's like, 'Yeah, same here, I'm actually eating to gain weight [so] it's cool.' So, I'm sure he's eating and happy and loving it."