Fighter confident, no doubt about it

Donald Cerrone has hit the couch to try to get past a problem that has plagued his last few fights.

Cerrone is one of the top competitors in World Extreme Cagefighting, but the lightweight has struggled early while losing two of his last three bouts in the organization. Poor first rounds were largely to blame for Cerrone losing decisions to Jamie Varner and Ben Henderson.

Cerrone hopes his visits to a sports psychologist in advance of his WEC 45 main event against Ed Ratcliff tonight at the Palms have fixed the problem, which he attributes to episodes of self-doubt.

"It may not seem like it, but I do (have self-doubt)," he said. "When I'm back in that locker room, I'm like, 'What am I doing? I shouldn't be here.' Trying to turn that negative into a positive energy is what I've been working on."

Cerrone said he now has positive things to think about when he prepares to enter the cage.

"The first session was basically (the sports psychologist) asking me why I deserve to be where I am in the WEC. 'What are your credentials? Why do you say you're the best?' " he said. "It was getting me to just say why I'm the best so he could build off that.

"I said, well, I went undefeated as a kickboxer. I've been in main events before. Those are green-light thoughts. When I start thinking I'm scared or I shouldn't do this, those are the things (I can think of). Those are the things I need to tell myself to just reassure myself."

Seeking outside help was not easy for Cerrone, a fighter nicknamed "Cowboy," who lives up to the moniker when he gets up at 7 a.m. each day to feed his horses, chickens and goats.

"It was definitely tough," he said. "It's really powerful and moving things when you sit down and listen to it, though, so it was good."

Ratcliff says while it's true Cerrone is prone to poor starts, he won't count on a subpar early effort by Cerrone tonight.

"(Slow starts) is not a perception, it's reality. I plan on him not doing that against me. I just plan on him coming out different," Ratcliff said. "I'm expecting him to come at me full, 100 percent the whole time, as I'm going to come at him the whole way."

Cerrone said he dealt with one other issue with his adviser. In the buildup to the Henderson fight, he seemed fixated on getting a rematch with Varner instead of facing Henderson. Cerrone dislikes the lightweight champion and admits part of his mind was on Varner when it should've been solely on beating Henderson.

Cerrone's wandering focus might have been another contributing factor to his loss.

"That's definitely another thing I've talked to the sports psychologist about. Don't look past my opponent, just look 200 feet in front of me," Cerrone said. "It's like driving down a dark road. Your headlights can only see 200 feet in front of you. That's all I need to focus on is what's right in front of me. Just look at Ed Ratcliff and look at what I need to do to get through Saturday night."

As for that still unsettled personal beef with Varner, Cerrone said dealing with that issue with his psychologist will have to wait.

"There's so many things I have to work on," he said. "That's at the end of the list."

The Cerrone-Ratcliff bout tops a 10-fight card. The first bout is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., with the live broadcast on Versus (Cable 38) at 7.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.