Former UFC lightweight title challenger Donald Cerrone has dismissed suggestions of him retiring following his defeat to Alex Morono, but he does admit that he needs to 'figure something out.'

'Cowboy' Cerrone (36-16, 2 NC) was distinctly second best in his co-main event clash against Morono (19-7, 1 NC) at UFC Vegas 26, suffering a first-round stoppage after a brief flurry of punches from the former Legacy Fighting Alliance welterweight champion.

Understandably, the result left the UFC veteran seething, and he told ESPN after the fight that he feels he still has a point to prove after running out of steam towards the end of the first round.

"I’m sure now there will be a lot of talk of, 'Maybe he’ll retire. Maybe this is the right time.' But that isn’t anywhere in my train of thought,” Cerrone said to ESPN. "I have to figure something out. I feel like I came out, started hard.

"Who knows? We’ll have to watch it, assess it, see what’s going on.

"I’m in good spirits. I’ll go home and see my two boys, hang out with my family.

"S***** night at the office but hopefully UFC isn’t sending me off anywhere and you guys will see me again."

At 38 years of age, as of right now #15-ranked UFC lightweight Cerrone knows he faces a long road back to a world title shot, and he has witnessed a large section of the MMA media call for his retirement. 

However, he remains frustrated by the fact that he couldn't put his game plan into action at the UFC Apex, and insisted that he has every intention of putting it right. 

"I don’t know what to answer to you on, ‘Is it that time?’ I don’t know. I don’t feel like it,” he added. “But how I feel and how I perform are two different things. It sucks.

"Who knows? I want to go back to ’55. No excuses. That kid came in and was ready."

He continued: "I’ll never go out like this.

"There’s no way I’ll end like this. I couldn’t let my legacy end like this."

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