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Conor McGregor recently said that he’d return to the Octagon in January, but didn’t name an opponent.
That mystery has been solved. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported on Thursday that his opponent will be Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
“Conor has signed, and Cowboy is ready to go," White told ESPN.
The two will square off at UFC 246 on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.
McGregor’s first fight since loss to Khabib
The fight will be a non-title welterweight bout and will mark McGregor’s first UFC fight since his October 2018 submission defeat to lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov that ended with a post-fight melee in the Octagon.
It
will be McGregor’s third fight at 170 pounds after splitting a pair of
fights at welterweight against Nate Diaz. McGregor also won the title at
145 and 155 pounds.
For Cerrone, it will be the first fight in a new exclusive deal that he has signed with UFC, according to the report.
Cerrone
(36-13) was widely believed to be the scheduled opponent when McGregor
announced his UFC return. Justin Gaethje was also thought to be a
candidate. Gaethje defeated Cerrone in September.
McGregor eyeing 3 fights next year
McGregor
(21-4) said when he announced his return that he wants to fight three
times in 2020 and named the winner of the Diaz-Jorge Masvidal BMF bout
as his next target following UFC 246.
Masvidal defeated Diaz by TKO in November to win the title of “Baddest Mother F---er” and has since speculated that McGregor isn’t truly interested in fighting him and only wanted to complete a trilogy with Diaz if Diaz had won.
McGregor also said that he wants to take on the winner of the Khabib-Tony Ferguson lightweight title fight that was recently scheduled for April in Brooklyn.
Either
of those fights require a lot of unknown factors to fall into place.
Between McGregor’s fickle track record — he’s fought just once since
2016 —and his multitude of legal problems, little is guaranteed beyond UFC 246.
But for now, McGregor-Cerrone is a done deal.
More from Yahoo Sports:
Conor McGregor to fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, as Dana White reveals they are ‘ready to go’
Dana White has confirmed Conor McGregor has signed a big-money deal to fight Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas on January 18.
It means McGregor
will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon for the first time
since his fourth-round submission defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov last
October.
Both fighters have agreed terms, with UFC president White revealing McGregor has already signed on the dotted line.
“Conor has signed and Cowboy is ready to go,” White told ESPN.
Victory for McGregor could lead to a potential rematch with Khabib, but the Russian believes his arch-rival has no intention of fighting him again.
“Honestly I don’t think he wants that fight,” he said.
“How is that so? I beat him up for four rounds. I beat him and choked him and he tapped. It was a sign he didn’t want to be there, ‘let me go please’ and all that. And now he wants the rematch.
“First of all he has to earn it. We’re in the fourth year since his last victory.
“It’s been three years and now we’re in the fourth. In order to fight for the title I had to win 10 fights in a row in the UFC.
“Just talking is one thing, but when it comes to doing it, he’s completely different. So for me there are no kind of announcements or insults. He’s an idiot. We don’t pay attention to idiots.”
No trash talk? Conor McGregor wishes Donald Cerrone well ahead of UFC 246
Conor McGregor is known for his signature trash talk. It’s one of his most famous attributes and has been a major factor in his popularity.
The brash Irishman has engaged in wars of words with seemingly every opponent he’s faced – at least since his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage in April 2013. His press conferences have become infamous. Whether bickering with Jose Aldo, Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov, or Dustin Poirier, McGregor seems to love verbally besting his opponents.
In 2015, McGregor took on all comers at the UFC’s quarterly “Go Big” press conference. The event featured numerous headliners from the final quarter of the calendar year. Simply put, McGregor had a field day.
One of his targets? Donald Cerrone.
Now four years later, things may have changed. Despite the two fighters’ war of words in the past, McGregor’s tone was total respect on Friday.
In a reflective Instagram post, Cerrone listed off numerous accomplishments he’s achieved over the span of his soon-to-be 51-fight MMA career. In atypical fashion, McGregor commented by wishing Cerrone and his family well.
“Good man Donald, enjoy the Christmas dinner,” McGregor wrote. “Happy holidays to you and the family, from the McGregor’s here in Ireland. See you in 20/20 with bullseye vision.”
McGregor has shown respect towards opponents in the past – but almost always after he fights them. Could McGregor be turning over a new leaf entering 2020? Only time will tell.
Both former lightweights, McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and Cerrone (35-13 MMA, 22-10 UFC) will elevate to welterweight when they headline UFC 246.
The event is scheduled to take place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card will stream on pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
