Conor McGregor returns in January at UFC 246
Conor McGregor returns
The 31-year-old Irishman will finally make his return to the Octagon for the first time since his 2018 defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov. This will see him face off against veteran Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in Las Vegas on January 18th in the T-Mobile arena. Both fighters have traded insults previously, so it sets up for a fascinating match-up. Bookmaker reviews on the fight have put McGregor in as the likely winner and he will need to be up the victory if he is to set up the rematch with the Russian down the line.
The Notorious vs. Cowboy!
Conor McGregor returns to the UFC Octagon on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas to fight Donald Cerrone, @danawhite told @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/5liOOnAZq6
— ESPN (@espn) November 28, 2019
‘The Notorious’ is always box office, so the build-up for the fight is likely to provide great entertainment. McGregor is a former two-division champion with a record of 21-4, in comparison to Cowboy, who is one of the most seasoned fighters in the sport with a record of 36-13 and one no contest.
This is set to be McGregor’s first fight since that infamous defeat against lightweight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov back at UFC 229 in October of 2018. He also did not make an appearance inside the Octagon in 2019, so has not won a bout since defeating Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 229 back in November of 2016.
Prior to this he had two fights with Nate Diaz, in which he won the rematch by majority decision at UFC 202 following the first defeat. These events were both a major success and two of the best pay per view events in the organisations history.
Throughout his time away from the Octagon he has continued to make the news for the wrong reasons. This includes for punching a man in a Dublin pub and smashing a man’s phone outside a hotel in Miami. He has also been called out by a number of fighters looking for a pay day but it is Cerrone who will be given the opportunity, which is much deserved considering the impact he has had on the UFC.
Cerrone will be entering the fight following two consecutive defeats against Tony Ferguson and then Justin Gaethje. The first was a TKO defeat due to a doctors stoppage going into the second round. This was Ferguson’s 12th victory in succession, so he lost nothing in defeat. He was then beaten in the first round by Gaethje at UFC Fight Night 158 via TKO, which was a little surprise. However, prior to this he had picked up three victories in succession against Mike Perry, Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta
