UFC 246: Conor McGregor Vs. Donald Cerrone In-Depth Breakdown

5. Background

Rumours regarding who would take on Conor McGregor in his comeback fight to the Octagon have been rife ever since the Irishman announced his return to active competition. While names like Justin Gaethje, Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier were thrown out there, the name that seemed to have some real traction behind it was Donald Cerrone.

Although McGregor has spent most of his UFC career at featherweight, his constant flirtations with a move up to 155lb meant that there was always a chance that the two would go toe-to-toe someday. Although many believed that The Notorious would return at lightweight, he and Cerrone will actually fight at 170lb.

Considering McGregor won't have to battle an extreme weight cut and some of Cowboy's best work in the latter stages of his career have come at welterweight, there are a lot of positives to come from this fight taking place in this weight class.

A win for Conor opens up a lot of possible match-ups, none more so than a potential rematch with arch-nemesis, Khabib Nurmagomedov, down the line. However, a victory for Cerrone would truly be the feather in the cap of one of the most action-packed MMA careers ever.