Conor McGregor Return Slated for UFC 246, Will Fight ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in Scheduled Headliner

It looks like the much-talked about, much-rumored and highly anticipated return to MMA for Conor McGregor will soon become a reality. Per ESPN, McGregor is slated to return for the January 18 UFC card, which will be UFC 246, in a main event non-title fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The event will be held in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena.

This is the plan according to UFC President Dana White. UFC is reportedly close to finalizing the fan-friendly bout, which would be a welterweight contest between the former UFC lightweight champion, McGregor, and the former lightweight title contender, Cerrone. Cerrone’s representatives have said that Cerrone has agreed to the fight and has signed a new exclusive deal with the UFC.

White stated on the matchup, “Conor has signed and Cowboy is ready to go.” McGregor is currently 1-1 at welterweight in the UFC. He lost his first fight at welterweight against Nate Diaz in 2016 and won their rematch later that same year. This will be McGregor’s first fight since his October 2018 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 229.

McGregor’s last UFC win was a first-round knockout over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. Cerrone currently holds the UFC record for most wins (23) and finishes (16) in company history. He’s coming off a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje that took place last September.

UFC 246 is scheduled for January 18 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be available on pay-per-view via ESPN+.