UFC 246 -- Conor McGregor stops Cowboy in just 40 seconds
CONOR MCGREGOR MADE HIS RETURN to the Octagon in a phenomenal fashion, scoring a Technical Knockout victory over Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds.
In the main event of UFC 246, the two Lightweight contenders met in a special attraction Welterweight bout; and it ended almost as soon as it began.
When the bell rang, Conor came out swinging his lethal left hand, which Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone ducked with a level change. But as Cowboy was dropping, he caught Conor's knee, which seemed to hurt Cowboy.
Instinctively, Cowboy went into the clinch to limit the damage. But Conor did something he had not anticipated; hitting him with multiple shoulder strikes. The first one hit Cowboy in the nose, opening him up. The second one struck Cowboy in the eye, doing further damage. Conor kept using the shoulder strikes until Cowboy was forced to give up the clinch. Once separated, Conor hit Cowboy with a head kick, that sent Cowboy reeling back to the cage.
Once by the fence, Conor unleashed some punches, which caused Cowboy to fall to the mat. Conor followed him there and landed ground strikes. Cowboy covered up, but it wasn't long before referee Herb Dean, who was giving him every chance to continue fighting, had to step in and stop the bout. The whole fight lasted just 40 seconds.
This win makes Conor McGregor the first fighter to secure KO/TKO victories in three weight classes in the UFC; and improved his record to 22 wins and 4 losses.
For Cowboy, this is the third loss in a row, and the fastest he's ever been finished. His professional MMA record stands at 36-14-1.
With his successful and spectacular comeback following his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2018, Conor called out the entire UFC Welterweight division, saying, "Any one of these mouthy fools can get it."
The camera panned to Jorge Masvidal and Welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, who were present cageside, during the callout.
However, UFC President Dana White had earlier predicted in an interview with TSN that Conor's next fight would be for the Lightweight championship; facing the winner of the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson that's expected to headline UFC 249 in April.
It would not be surprising, though, to see Conor fight again before facing the winner of Khabib vs Tony; as he chose to fight in 170 lbs - without having to cut weight to 155 lbs - for the express purpose of taking a quick next fight on short notice.
