Joel Alvarez isn’t just about finishes—he’s about statements. At UFC Tampa, the Spanish lightweight delivered yet another jaw-dropping performance, demolishing Drakkar Klose with a vicious knee for his 22nd career stoppage. The 31-year-old is now on a 3-fight winning streak and has only gone to a decision once in his UFC tenure so far!

The crowd roared as he walked away from the first-round demolition of Klose, but it wasn’t just the fight that grabbed attention. Alvarez had a dream, one that might clash with UFC CEO Dana White’s hopes. After his win, ‘El Fenomeno’ didn’t mince words. When asked if there was a specific opponent he wanted next, he smiled.

Then, he dropped the bomb as he stated through a translator, “Listen I don’t have… wouldn’t have an opponent in mind but for my last dance I would fight somebody that is coming back there. I heard he might be coming back, 155, 170, but it would be ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.”

After retiring in 2022, Donald Cerrone left fans with bittersweet memories of his wars inside the Octagon. But in October this year, ‘Cowboy’ sent a rumble through the MMA sphere. In a video shared on his Instagram account, he stated, “I want to go back [to the UFC] and get two more fights… The number 50 has been sitting on my mind for a while.”

But what does UFC boss Dana White say about the idea of the 41-year-old warrior making his return to the cage? At a post-DWCS (Dana White’s Contender Series) press conference, White confessed, “I hate it. I hate it, Love him, hate that. He retired. For what? What’s left to prove? If you want to make money, let’s figure something else out. I hate it. When guys retire, they retire for a reason. They don’t just retire because — they retire because they know it’s over. They know it is.”

However, for Joel Alvarez, the prospect of fighting Cerrone is both personal and professional. Cerrone isn’t just a name in the record books; he’s a living legend. Alvarez, a finisher in every sense of the word, further indicated, “It would be a dream for me to get a photo with him, imagine to fight him? It’d be an amazing thing. If he’s coming back, I’m not sure if that’s happening.”

But here’s the rub. Dana White isn’t on board with Cerrone returning, let alone fighting a dangerous and hungry contender like Alvarez. And while the UFC boss has a history of changing his stance under the right circumstances, this particular dream might require more than a persuasive pitch! Why? Because according to White, Cerrone has nothing else to prove in the sport but everything to lose.

Dana White is vehemently against Donald Cerrone’s wish as “it’s time to not go to war anymore”

The UFC head honcho has always admired Donald Cerrone’s warrior spirit, but he’s convinced that the Octagon door should remain closed for the Hall of Famer. After all, with 48 total fights in the UFC and WEC, which included a lightweight title shot against Rafael Dos Anjos in 2015, what more is there to prove for him?

As such, in the aforementioned press conference, White confessed, “Look at every time we’re at a show and we show Cowboy Cerrone on the screen, the place goes nuts. He’s beloved. He’s beloved because the guy goes to war, and he’s been in wars for years, and it’s time to not go to war anymore. There’s nothing left to prove for him.”

The fighter’s twilight years were far from ideal, marked by six losses in his last seven bouts. Even with Cerrone’s personal goal of reaching 50 career fights under the UFC banner, White questioned, “Cerrone needs to think about what’s next. He should have been thinking about it two years ago but apparently he didn’t, and he needs to. But we’re here for him. We love Cerrone. We’ll help in any way we can. I don’t want to see him get punched in the face anymore.”

In the end, Joel Alvarez’s bold call-out of Donald Cerrone highlights more than just his hunger for competition—it reveals his respect for a legend. While Alvarez dreams of stepping into the cage with Cerrone for one last dance, UFC boss Dana White’s concerns about Cerrone’s health and legacy add layers of complexity to the situation.

With Cerrone’s retirement and White’s firm stance against his return, ‘El Fenomeno’s dream may remain just that—a dream. But then again, in the unpredictable world of MMA, stranger things have happened. The question now is whether this fight is a future fantasy or an opportunity that may never come to fruition. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!