Donald Cerrone didn’t get the win in today’s UFC Fight Night 132 headliner against Leon Edwards but said he’s proud of himself for even stepping in the octagon.

Unbeknownst to anyone except Cerrone (33-11 MMA, 20-8 UFC) and his team until after the fight, “Cowboy” became ill just hours before he was scheduled to get in the octagon. He dealt with vomiting and more, and was on the verge of informing UFC brass he would not be able to compete in the main event against Edwards (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC).

“This is the first time in my career I’ve ever almost called (UFC President) Dana (White) and said, ‘I’m not coming in to work today,'” Cerrone told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 132 post-fight news conference. “Then I just (expletive) looked myself in the mirror and said, ‘You’re not that guy. Just go.'”

Cerrone suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Edwards at UFC Fight Night 132, which took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore and streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Over the course of his 28-fight UFC tenure, Cerrone has been forced to withdraw from just one fight. A blood infection postponed a schedule bout against Robbie Lawler from UFC 213 to UFC 214 in July, and if the American had his way, he would have fought that bout, too.

A last-minute withdrawal from UFC Fight Night 132 would have been a crushing blow to the event, especially because there would have been no possible replacement to fight Edwards that late in the game. Cerrone said he was close to doing it but powered through the adversity and got himself to the arena.

“(I was) just sick throwing up – couldn’t get out of bed – just feeling like (expletive) all morning, all day,” Cerrone said. “I wasn’t feeling like showing up to work, man. That’s how I was feeling. That’s the only way I can tell it. It was the closest I’ve ever been in my whole career to calling the boss and saying, ‘Hey, man, I’m not going to (expletive) make it.’ Then I rolled over about 5 o’clock, looked in the mirror and said, ‘You’re not that guy.’ So I got up and said, ‘Let’s go.’ Here I am.”

Cerrone, 35, didn’t win the fight with Edwards, which dropped him to 1-4 in his past five fights. However, he said he was proud of himself for overcoming his ailment and giving Edwards a hard-fought competitive contest for five full rounds.

“That has nothing to do with the way I fought,” Cerrone said. “I’m very proud of myself, actually, for getting in there and fighting. So, I’m happy. I don’t have any remorse or doubt or upset in any way.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 132, check out the UFC Events section of the site.