UFC star Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone just fought one of his toughest battles, and it wasn’t in the ring.
On Friday, the 35-year-old revealed he nearly lost his life while cave diving in Cozumel, Mexico.
“Today I can honestly say I’m Happy to be alive. We had catastrophic worst case scenario on our dive,” Cerrone captioned an Instagram photo, which shows images of an under water cave.
“Total silt out, lost the cave line and lost my buddy couldn’t see my own hands was the most scariest moment to this day in my life.”
“I remember kissing Danger and Lindsay and saying ‘I’ll see y’all soon, don’t worry daddy’s coming home!!!!” Cerrone wrote in reference to his fiancé and their 2-month-old son.
“Told the grim reaper ‘Not today Mother F——‘ I’m figuring this the f— and coming home !!” Cerrone added.
A post shared by Donald Cerrone (@cowboycerrone) on Aug 17, 2018 at 2:05pm PDT
Cerrone’s fans expressed their concern for the star following his potentially fatal incident, writing comments like “Glad your ok @cowboycerrone we could’ve lost a real one .”
Another fan said, “Cowboy… you gotta chill brother. Calculated risks. You already have done a ton of crazy death defying s— in your life lol. You have a family now.”
Figured I take a little flight this morning. Almost time to buy my first plane
A post shared by Donald Cerrone (@cowboycerrone) on Aug 4, 2018 at 10:12am PDT
Cave diving is considered a very technical and risky form of recreational diving. In many cases, scuba divers have to carry a spare oxygen tank and switch out tanks mid-dive.
Cerrone was diving a cave system known as the Cenote “El Aerolito” which stretches almost 12 miles inland. The water is a blend of salt and fresh and aside from the dangerous caves that can collapse and are also easy to get lost in, there is also an abundance of crocodiles.
Cerrone holds a UFC fight record of 33-11 and his love for mixed-martial arts began at a young age.
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Happy Birthday DACson Danger Cerrone
A post shared by Donald Cerrone (@cowboycerrone) on Jun 28, 2018 at 6:11pm PDT
“In high school because I had an attitude and a cowboy hat,” Cerrone said, according to UFC’s website, which can also explain the nickname.
“After that I messed around with some amateur kickboxing and did pretty well. Then I went pro in RING OF FIRE show and moved on to MMA.”
“It has just been a progression.”
Cerrone is set to go up against Mike Perry on Nov. 10.