Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone
Conor McGregor will make his much-awaited return to the Octagon as he will face Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Dublin, Ireland native’s return will be his first competitive fight after a long hiatus. His last UFC match dates back to UFC 229, where he lost against Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission in what was a wild and chaotic match for the UFC Lightweight Championship.
McGregor will fight Cerrone in a non-title welterweight bout, a division where he had built a famous rivalry with Nate Diaz back in 2016.
But before we get into the match, allow SBOBET to provide you with some interesting storylines ahead of tomorrow.
The Notorious looking like the big winner
Conor McGregor looks to be the big winner of this match regardless of the outcome as he’s expected to bring home at least $3-M in guaranteed purse. On the other hand, Donald Cerrone is only guaranteed $200,000, but it will be doubled if ever he defeats Conor McGregor.
Our UFC 246 odds have dubbed McGregor as the hot favourite in this match. The Irishman was placed at 1.25 while Donald Cerrone is at 3.70 in the Asian Handicap market. In the same token, most pundits predicted a knockout win by McGregor despite being out for more than a year.
Even with those predictions, fight fans are left to wonder on how McGregor will fare in the Octagon this time around. For others, they believe that McGregor will show some ring rust and lower levels of fitness while others see his hiatus as his way of recharging his batteries.
But if there’s one thing that’s never changed, it’s his no-nonsense, brash approach, which was in full display during their most recent press conference.
Just like before, McGregor proudly predicted a knockout finish in the fight as he promised that there would be “blood spilled” tomorrow. He even got involved in a heated exchange as expected, but he has shown respect to his opponent in Cerrone.
“We’ve had a good back and forth myself and Donald and as time has gone on, he’s become a family man,” said McGregor.
“Obviously, you’ve seen him compete so many times and it’s hard not to respect Donald right now at this stage and he has my respect,” he added.
The Cowboy seeking for redemption
Donald Cerrone would be aching to get a win as he has lost his two previous bouts.
The 36-year-old kickboxer made his return to the lightweight division last year after spending much of his UFC career in the welterweight division.
His return to lightweight drew a mixed bag of results, to say the least. Cerrone defeated Alexander Hernandez in UFC Fight Night 143 in a masterful performance and he extended his UFC records for most finishes with sixteen. He followed it up four months later with a victory against Al Iaquinta.
But in June, Cerrone was TKO’ed by Tony Ferguson in UFC 238. He lost due to a doctor stoppage since his nose and right eye was damaged after enduring blows from his opponent.
At September, he also lost the fight against Justin Gaethje when he was knocked out early in the first round.
This time around, Cerrone can take advantage of McGregor’s so-called rust. The Cowboy may be uniquely qualified to make life harder for McGregor since the latter is subpar in terms of his defensive game. If Cerrone can somehow survive the first two rounds without taking a huge deal of damage, he might take over during the later rounds.
McGregor shares his future plans after the fight
Another interesting storyline to look out for is what will happen after the fight, particularly on Conor McGregor’s plans moving forward.
The Irishman showed that he isn’t shy to go the unconventional route as he expressed his desire to fight Manny Pacquiao in the newly-built Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium later this year.
McGregor is hungry to wear his boxing gloves once more. In fact, he called out Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a rematch of their fight last August 2017.
He bared that he is in talks with the eight-time World Champion boxer and would relish the chance to test his boxing skills against the world’s best. Moreover, the confident fighter has his eyes set to a possible boxing world title should he build some momentum.
“It will be hard to leave the MMA game fully but I think a boxing world title is a great aspiration to have. I always want bigger and better and to reach for the stars,” said McGregor.
“I would love the rematch with Floyd Mayweather and I know the Manny one is there whenever I want it,” he added.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
