Throwback: Conor McGregor Gets into a Heated Altercation With Donald Cerrone

Conor McGregor finally has an opponent for his much-anticipated UFC return. The former lightweight and featherweight champion takes on Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246. There has been a ton of speculations regarding the next opponent of McGregor for a meaningful period. Donald Cerrone called out Conor McGregor after his impressive win over AL Iaquinta. McGregor even agreed to fight Cerrone, however, things did not get finalized as McGregor was dealing with legal issues outside the octagon, and he was calling out a bunch of other fighters too.

Although it seems there is no rivalry between McGregor and Cerrone going into the fight both of them have been involved in verbal warfare back in 2015 at the UFC Go Big conference.

Back then Conor McGregor was the interim featherweight champion and he was scheduled to fight the undisputed champion, Jose Aldo. While Donald Cerrone was scheduled to fight Rafael Dos Anjos for the lightweight title. Even if McGregor was yet to win the featherweight title, he was already setting his eyes on the lightweight division. When asked about the same, Cerrone slammed McGregor’s aspiration to be a lightweight champion and said:

“Conor has no right coming over to 155. There is no way, he is not gonna stand a chance. We are too big for him, we are too strong. So you can take your little English a**.”

Conor McGregor fired back at Cerrone suggesting the entire lightweight division is just too “slow” for him. McGregor fired back:

“You are too slow and too stiff. you are stiff as a board. I will snap you in half. And that’s it. I see stiffness when I see that 155-pound division. I feel like they are stuck in the mud almost.”

It’s safe to say that most of the fans were counting out McGregor in his fight against Jose Aldo and rightfully so. Aldo was the pound for pound greatest at the moment and he was on a reign of terror in multiple organizations. Well, we all know the outcome of the fight between Aldo and the Irishman. Cerrone also bet against McGregor saying:

“You have beaten nobody, and you think you are gonna come up to 155, make a statement. Come on man, sit the f***k down.”

Cerrone also said that McGregor had nothing to say when they were all backstage, but he talks a lot in front of the public. Cerrone continued:

“He is really good at talking out in front of the public. But when we were out there in the back he had nothing to say. I stood back there for 30 mins right next to him and nothing to say to me. But he was very cordial to my man(Chad Mendes). Of course, he gets out there and he wants to run his mouth. But it’s good, he sells the fight. But he comes over to 155, we are gonna knock the f**ing lucky charm out.”

Replying to Cerrone, McGregor said that if the price is right then he would fight Cerrone and change his life too by making him rich. of course this was the conference where McGregor fired back at RDA calling him an easy fight  by saying:

“Because I change your bum life, I can make you rich. You fight me it’s a celebration. When you sign to fight me it’s a celebration, you ring back home, you ring your wife. “Baby we done it, we are rich baby. Conor McGregor made us rich, break out the red panties. We are a rich baby. So don’t say you would not take that fight. You would take that fight like everyone else up here would take the fight against me if it was offered regardless of the belt or any of that shit. I am the money fight in male s**t at all weight division, so fuck everybody else up here.”

Four years later this altercation, Conor McGregor is finally set to fight Donald Cerrone. Interestingly this fight will take place at the welterweight division. Reportedly, this will be the third welterweight fight in McGregor’s career. It would be intriguing to see where does McGregor goes next if he manages to get the job done against Cerrone at UFC 246. Does he decide to stay at welterweight and fight Diaz or maybe Masvidal or he comes down to lightweight for the rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov?