Revisiting Stephen A Smith's Slander of Cowboy Cerrone After Conor McGregor Fight at UFC 246

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is known as one of the most passionate, hardy, and aggressive fighters in UFC history given the rate at which he fights, but that didn't look an awful lot like the Cowboy that got battered by Conor McGregor and knocked out inside of one minute at UFC 246.

Stephen A. Smith, ESPN's all-purpose talking head, drew the ire of MMA Twitter, longtime announcer and analyst Joe Rogan, and McGregor himself for what many believed was an uninformed take, as he claimed Cerrone didn't look motivated to get in the octagon.

Conor McGregor wants Stephen A. Smith to apologize to Joe Rogan, Donald Cerrone https://t.co/nFq5mxNGna
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) January 26, 2020

Stephen A. is known to just fly off the handle and offer some crazy takes, but this one actually ended up with him totally vindicated amid criticism from Rogan.

Cerrone confirmed that Stephen A.'s assessment was all true just a few days ago, as he stated that he knew a few days before the fight that he didn't have his normal drive to get in the octagon.

Y’all spent months complaining about Stephen A Smith’s harsh comments on Donald Cerrone’s performance at UFC 246, just for Cowboy to come out and state he was not prepared, not motivated, not excited (for the biggest fight of his career) and didn’t want to be there.
— Jordan Patu. (@Jordan_Patu) April 29, 2020

"The wrong guy showed up...I didn't want to be there," Cerrone said.

Stephen A. might not be the most respected voice in boxing or MMA given his lack of history with the subject, but he was dead on with his critique of Cerrone, which should prompt an apology from Rogan and McGregor.