Conor McGregor said he had endured a spartan training camp ahead of his comeback at UFC 246 on Saturday night, but the Irishman kicked back in style after getting the job done against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
McGregor returned to the octagon for the first time in 15 months, and wasted little time in leaving Cerrone in a crumpled heap on the mat.
In fact, 40 seconds was all it took for ‘The Notorious’ at T-Mobile Arena, after he busted Cerrone’s nose with a series of unorthodox shoulder shots during an early clinch before landing a brutal head kick and then launching a barrage of punches to finish the fight.
Also on rt.com Conor McGregor crushes Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds at UFC 246In contrast to his previous fight, where McGregor revealed he had been “drinking all bleeding week” before being beaten by UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Irishman said this time around he had not touched a drop of alcohol for several months leading into the bout.
But McGregor vowed that would change after the bout, saying in his post-fight interview that he would “celebrate tonight” before spending time with his two young children the next day, contemplating his next steps in the octagon.
The evidence was that McGregor was certainly enjoying himself as he hit Encore Beach Club in ‘Sin City’ for his official afterparty, getting behind the DJ decks, saluting fans and signing various items. He also busted some moves of his own on the dancefloor.
McGregor cautioned though that he would soon be back in the gym, saying after his quick-fire defeat of Cerrone:
“Before a fight you taper off for the final two weeks, so if you get a quick win and then you go off, all of a sudden it can be four weeks without training and then you slip behind.
“So I’m going to make sure not to do that.”