Conor McGregor scored a stunning first round victory over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 246 in Las Vegas.
McGregor, fighting for the first time in 15 months, dominated his opponent in their welterweight contest, taking just 40 seconds to seal the win and announce his comeback in sublime fashion.
The Dubliner exploded out of his corner at the start of the contest, launching himself at 36-year-old Cerrone with a huge left in the opening seconds.
McGregor immediately followed that up with a vicious series of shoulder strikes from the clinch that appeared to break his opponent's nose.
A head kick then rocked Cerrone, allowing McGregor to swarm in for the kill. A series of heavy lefts saw the American crumble to the canvas with referee Herb Dean stepping in to save him from any more damage.
Prior to tonight, McGregor had not tasted victory in the octagon since his 2016 victory over Eddie Alvarez – the night he wrote his name into history by becoming the UFC’s first ever double champion after adding the lightweight title to his featherweight crown.
After falling to Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring in August 2017, McGregor made his belated return to MMA in October 2018 where he suffered a crushing submission defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov on an explosive night in Vegas.
Despite his recent absence, McGregor remains the biggest draw in the organisation with victory over Cerrone sparking what could be a huge 2020 for the 31-year-old.
McGregor fought at welterweight for just the third time in his career tonight and should he choose to remain at 170lbs the prospect of a meeting with Jorge Masvidal looms large.
A rematch with lightweight champion Nurmagomedov also remains a tantalising prospect. Nurmagomedov will put his title on the line against Tony Ferguson in April with the with McGregor likely to be keen to meet the winner later in the year.
