LAS VEGAS — It takes a village to build a fighter, and also several thousand dollars to get him ready for a fight.

But, for UFC lightweight Donald Cerrone, it’s a wise investment. Free-wheeling as is out of the cage, he doesn’t think twice about dropping significant cash to get the best training.

“Twenty thousand dollars,” Cerrone said after an open workout at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, which hosts his co-headliner against the undefeated Myles Jury.

And, he said, that’s not including coaches, or the cost of a new training facility he helped build at the ranch he owns in New Mexico. (He also works out of the famed Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA gym in nearby Albuquerque.)

“That was just strictly bringing guys in,” Cerrone said. “Bringing guys from the East Coast is like $1,000 roundtrip. Feeding them, paying them, so costs me right around $20,000.

“But yeah, would you pay 20 to win 100? Because I would.”

Cerrone banked a disclosed $126,000 for his most recent win, a decision over former Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez at UFC 178. While his disclosed pay for UFC 182 won’t be known until the Nevada State Athletic Commission releases official salaries, he’s making a bit more than $100,000, including undisclosed performance bonuses. Then there’s the disclosed performance bonuses – nine to date, which have earned him several hundred thousand dollars on top of that.

Not a bad investment, indeed.

In camp, Cerrone said he brought in more training partners than usual, working with light heavyweight champ Jon Jones – “Probably not the best idea,” he joked – and ex-interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit, among others.

He called it “probably” the best training camp he’s had to date. The push is aptly timed, of course, because Jury is such an important fight.

Cerrone is on a five-fight winning streak and earned a convincing decision over Alvarez, a fighter once promised a title shot by the UFC, and is ever so close to a title shot. Although Rafael dos Anjos is the next contender, followed by Khabib Nurmagomedov, there’s a good chance Cerrone could be thrown into a title eliminator.

Not like “Cowboy” cares enough to curtail his extracurricular activities. Despite the high stakes and serious preparation, Cerrone’s hard work is always accompanied with hard play. In a promotional video for Saturday’s fight, he is seen flying in a plane, and he said he won’t skimp on his New Year’s celebration.

“There will be Budweisers flowing, I’m sure,” he said.

The good news is, those are pretty cheap.

For more on UFC 182, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.