Conor McGregor will be back in UFC very soon. According to ESPN, the UFC is close to finalizing a deal between McGregor and Donald Cerrone in a non-welterweight bout in UFC 246 on Jan. 18. It will be the main event of the show and it will be the first fight for McGregor since he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 back in September 2018.
“Conor has signed and Cowboy (Cerrone) is ready to go,” UFC President Dana White said to ESPN.
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This is not a big surprise considering McGregor announced his return to UFC last month. He said he would return in January, but at the time an opponent was yet to be determined.
“Ask the UFC who the opponent is, because I do not give a f— who the opponent is,” McGregor said.
While talking to reporters in Moscow, he was asked about facing Nurmagomedov again. He said he would love to face him in Moscow
“That is the bout we want,” McGregor said. “We want this bout in Moscow. The people of Russia deserve this bout to take place. The people of the world deserve this bout to take place.”
And when it comes to the loss, he said he should have been more focused but he won’t make that mistake again.
“The people who believe in me deserve better,” McGregor said. “It is an insult to the people that believe in me that I am not fully committed. So now I am coming back and I’m fully committed. And I am eager to come back and show the best of myself for my fans around the world.”
It was reported that Cerrone was one of the leading candidates of facing McGregor. But Jorge Masvidal, who recently won the “BMF” title after beating Nate Diaz said McGregor wants no part of him.
“To be quite frank, [Conor] was flirting with fighting the winner when the possibility of the winner was Nate,” Masvidal said during the interview. He kept throwing it out there. He even made his prediction. But, since I’ve won, he hasn’t said a peep.”
That would be a very interesting match. But McGregor fans are just happy he’s back, and Cerrone won’t be an easy opponent for McGregor as he holds the record for most wins in UFC history with 23.
