Why Donald Cerrone Is a Tough Opponent for Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is making his much anticipated UFC return against Donald Cowboy Cerrone at UFC 246 on January 18. The venue will be the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It will be the company’s first PPV event of 2020. McGregor’s last octagon appearance came back in October 2018 at UFC 229. That fight ended in a loss of his UFC lightweight championship to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

On the other hand, Donald Cowboy Cerrone has been very active in his UFC career. He fought a record four times inside the octagon in 2019. He is coming off from consecutive losses against #3 lightweight contender Justin Gaethje and former lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.

Dana White’s recent comments suggest that McGregor may be fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight championship soon. However, McGregor is making his return with a jump to the welterweight division. Some media outlets and fans from the MMA community are speculating that UFC has offered a considerably easy match to McGregor for his much-awaited return.

Cerrone’s inclusion, despite his last two losses, raised a lot of questions in the MMA community. Interestingly enough, Cerrone vs. Conor is second to none.

It could well be McGregor’s toughest test since the fight is taking place at the welterweight division.

Conor McGregor in the Welterweight Division

Conor is an efficient striker and `has finished 18 of his 21 opponents by knockout inside the second round. He is a heavy puncher, known for his lethal left hand, and an astute boxer with incredible knowledge of the game.

Cowboy, on the other hand, is an equally brilliant kickboxer and has an impressive ten knockouts by a combination of head kicks and punches.

Cerrone’s experience at the welterweight division gives him a slight edge over Conor McGregor, who will be competing in his third fight in the division.

After achieving success at the featherweight and lightweight division, Conor fell short for the first time in UFC in a shocking defeat to Nate Diaz at UFC 196. In the rematch at UFC 202, Conor faced stiff competition from a much larger Nate Diaz and won the controversial match via majority decision.

During the post-match interview, he shot down the idea of a rematch at the same division.

“This time I want to do it at 155 pounds, I came in at 170 with him as the bigger man, and I overcame that adversity. Now, this trilogy is on my terms, come back down to 155, and we’ll do it.”

After knocking out every opponent within two rounds in the featherweight division and lightweight divisions, Conor struggled in a 5-round fight for the second time in his career. He admitted his fallacies at the division and showed concern on how the difference in the weight impacted his ability to end the fight earlier.

Watch: Conor McGregor Finishes His Opponent With 9 Skull Crushing Elbows

Beefed-up photos of Conor McGregor are doing rounds on the internet. His punching power has also increased with the weight jump; it’ll be very crucial to his game.

While Conor will look to catch Cerrone early with his left hand, it significantly reduces the likeliness of Cerrone getting knocked out. A lot of that power comes with experience inside the octagon.

Conor isn’t just making a return after a long lay off but is directly jumping to a class above him, where he has shallow experience.

Cerrone’s submission against McGregor

Conor is not known for his cardio and looks fatigued going into the latter part of the fight. He submitted to Khabib (neck crank) and Diaz (rear-naked choke) at UFC 229 and UFC 202, marking his only two loses in UFC.

Despite a solid boxing game, McGregor has a sketchy ground game. This is where Cerrone can take advantage during the fight.

Cerrone isn’t a world-class wrestler like Khabib but he is a lethal submission specialist. In the 36 wins of Cerrone’s MMA career, 17 wins have come via submission. He is a different fighter at welterweight. He is much stronger and effective, as we saw during his last welterweight fight against Mike Perry

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

A look at Cerrone’s options against McGregor

Cerrone likes to clinch and take the fight to the ground at this division. He can upset Conor McGregor yet again with a submission victory in later rounds. He might look to tire Conor out and throw in the surprise kicks. With just one octagon appearance in the last three years, Conor’s inactivity will be a very critical factor going into the fight.

Cerrone will look to capitalize on the opportunity by grabbing a big win against McGregor. He will carry the temperament of a winner going into the match. A win against McGregor can remarkably benefit Cerrone, who has expressed his desire for the lightweight championship.

He is a stylistic match for McGregor in terms of boxing, and a nightmare on the ground.