The Notorious Is Back!

The holiday season 2019/2020 has brought a real treat for MMA and UFC fans from all around the world. Back in October 2019, one of the head people from the Ultimate Fighting Championship federation has announced the next event named UFC 246, which was then set to take place on January the 18th 2020 in the magnificent T-Mobile Arena located in the part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan area known under the name of Paradise, Nevada.

The announced fight card contained some interesting match-ups, such as the one between the former woman’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm and the promising rising star Raquel Pennington, or the one between Anthony Pettis and another rising star Carlos Diego Ferreira. Surely, they enjoy playing free slots no download. Dana White has also announced the performance of legendary MMA veteran Aleksei Oleinik, as well as the performance of always unpleasant bantamweight beast Brian The Boom Kelleher. And such a card can be described as pretty solid.

However, the thing UFC 246 will be remembered for is definitely the main fight, which also represents the comeback of one of the best and most controversial fighters UFC has ever seen - The Notorious Conor McGregor! He is set to fight one of the most creative fighters of the welterweight division, and the entire federation overall - The Cowboy Donald Cerrone!

Conor McGregor

Although it’s virtually impossible not to hear about The Notorious Conor McGregor, here are a few statements about his career. Conor is a former professional boxer and a current professional MMA fighter with around 12 years of experience in this sport. Born back in 1988 in Dublin, as a son of a working-class family, he quickly found his place in the boxing ring. He started to show interest in boxing when he was around 10 years old, and with 12 he joined his first-ever boxing club named Crumlin, under the supervision of former two-time Olympian participant Phil Sutcliffe. A few years were needed for Conor to become the All-Ireland champion in his age category, combining the styles of his favourite fighters, such as Roy Jones Jr, “Prince” Naseem Hamed, and Chris Eubank.

After several years of boxing, McGregor decided to try himself out in mixed martial arts, and his first amateur match was held back in 2007 against Kieran Campbell. And of course, he won the match with the TKO in the first round!

After this fight, he turned to a professional career under the management of famous trainer Jon Kavanagh. Shortly after, in March 2008, Conor had his first professional MMA match, which he won with the TKO in the second round! This fight was followed by several more wins for The Notorious, which ultimately led to signing the contract with the largest MMA organization - the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The contract was signed in February 2013, and his debut match was held in March 2013. The event was named UFC on Fuel TV, with the main fight between Gegard Mousasi and Ilir Latifi. Conor’s opponent was Marcus Brimage. The Notorious has won the match by knockout in the first round, which got him his first “Knockout of the Night” UFC award!

The Notorious in UFC

After the debut win against Brimage, McGregor started collecting more wins. The first in line was the former featherweight champion, Max Holloway, who lost to Conor by split decision. Next was Diego Brandao, who lost in the first round, providing Conor with his first “Performance of the Night” award. Two such awards have been given to McGregor in the next two fights as well, against Dustin Poirier and Dennis Siver. And the next in line was the champion - Jose Aldo.

However, the match that has fully proven Conor’s champion potential everyone was talking about, didn’t take place because Aldo suffered an injury. So, Conor had to face Chad Mendes, who lost to McGregor via TKO.

The First Title

After recovering from the injury, Aldo was back and ready to face the challenger McGregor. Although rated as underdog, The Notorious managed to stay cold-minded and finish Aldo via TKO after only 13 seconds! This match got him another “Performance of the Night” title, as well as breaking the record for the fastest knockout in the UFC history!

The Second Title

After mastering the featherweight division, The Notorious turned to lightweight in his attempt to become the first-ever UFC titleholder in two separate divisions. However, this path was not so smooth as the one in the featherweight division. At first, Conor had lost to Nate Diaz, only to defeat him several months after that. That match earned him the title shot against Eddie Alvarez, who was literally dominated by the confident McGregor.

After that match, Conor turned to his family and private life, making a long pause from the UFC, which lasted about three years. His first comeback was not so successful since he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov back in October 2018.

The Comeback

After losing to Khabib, The Notorious decided to take another break from the UFC, which included even his retirement from the social media for a while. He went under the radar, and MMA fans have nearly forgotten about him.

After around year and a half away from the public and the octagon, McGregor has announced his comeback. And this wouldn’t be such a surprise if he hasn’t chosen the welterweight division as his next carrier goal! This surprised all the fans and the people from the UFC, which have scheduled a match against Donald Cowboy Cerrone on 18 January 2020, in the event named UFC 246!

The Notorious vs. Cowboy

The UFC 246 event witnessed a whole new, transformed Conor McGregor. He was again full of self-confidence, but this time not in his recognizable cocky way. There were no provocations addressed to Donald Cerrone during the press conference, only pure respect for this UFC legend, showing that McGregor has significantly matured as a fighter.

And the match was finally on, the T-Mobile Arena was full of tension. After the referee’s sign for the beginning of the first round, The Notorious opened the match furiously, missing a few punches at first, but getting close enough to firmly grip Cowboy in standing clinch. Here is exactly when he showed that he still got that cockiness, throwing several surprisingly successful shoulder punches, which shook Cowboy a bit. These punches were followed by a precise elbow, which was then followed by a perfect high kick, which landed straight on Cerrone’s chin. The kick brought Cowboy down, and McGregor was all over him like a hurricane. A series of ground-and-pound punches without successful Donald’s defence has forced referee Herb Dean to stop the match after only 40 seconds of the first round! McGregor stayed humble in his victory, saying only nice words about Cerrone in the post-match press conference.

Usman or Masvidal?

So, The Notorious has placed the cornerstone in his welterweight division journey. The only question that remains is who will face him next. Will it be the best two from the division - Jorge Masvidal and the champion Kamaru Usman, or will Conor have to gradually make his way towards these first-class fighters.