Conor McGregor‘s five-year road back to the Octagon lasted barely more than a minute. The Irish former two-division champion suffered a serious right knee injury just seconds into his UFC 329 main event rematch against Max Holloway on Saturday night in Las Vegas, ending the fight before it had really begun.

McGregor, 37, opened the bout by charging at Holloway with a jumping kick. He missed his target, but the way he landed appeared to buckle his knee. He slipped to the canvas repeatedly over the next several seconds, grimacing and unable to put weight on the leg, before referee Mike Beltran waved off the contest at the 69-second mark. Holloway was awarded a TKO victory.

UFC CEO Dana White said at the post-fight press conference that promotion doctors suspect McGregor tore his ACL, though the diagnosis has not been officially confirmed. White admitted he’d expected a longer fight, saying he didn’t know what McGregor had left in the tank after such a long layoff.

Less than two hours after leaving T-Mobile Arena, McGregor addressed the injury directly on social media, writing that he’d had no issues heading into the bout and had been training normally throughout camp. He called the moment “hell” and pushed back hard against online speculation that he had entered the cage already injured, insisting he felt calm and fully ready before the opening bell. He vowed to return.

Holloway, who was competing at welterweight for the first time in his career, was gracious in victory. He said he found himself telling the referee mid-fight that McGregor was clearly hurt and that the bout needed to be stopped.

The result adds another setback to what has been a turbulent stretch for McGregor outside the cage. He hadn’t fought since 2021, sidelined first by a broken leg and then by a string of legal issues, including a 2024 civil trial in which a jury found him liable for sexual assault — a verdict he has said he intends to appeal. A planned comeback fight in 2024 against Michael Chandler also fell apart due to a toe injury.

With McGregor now 1-3 in his last four fights and facing a lengthy recovery from a potential ACL tear, it remains unclear whether — or when — fans will see “The Notorious” back in the Octagon again.

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor announced his intention to return to the UFC on social media.

McGregor has not fought in the UFC since 2021, when Dustin Poirier broke his leg. Some fans wondered if McGregor was retired for good, but he put those thoughts to rest.

“See ya’s in the Casinos after, the Mac loves yas all,” McGregor said. “I got love for yas all it’s an honor it’s light work it’s easy.”

Even before this message, it was rumored that McGregor could return during International Fight Night in July. Although he hasn’t been confirmed for this specific event, he still seems to be returning sooner rather than later.

Before stepping away in 2021, McGregor hinted at his retirement several times. He cited boredom, a lack of top-tier opponent options and a distaste for the “politics” of fighting as reasons for wanting to leave the UFC.

In August 2025, McGregor was officially removed from the UFC roster. This just means McGregor will need to file paperwork to rejoin the roster if he’s serious about his return.

McGregor has not won a fight against a ranked opponent since 2016. McGregor debuted in 2008. This means that McGregor was closer to his 2016 debut than to his last win in 2026.

In 2018, he was accused of raping a woman. In 2024, he was found libel of rape in an Irish court and was forced to pay 248,000 euros in damages and the woman’s legal fees of 1.5 million euros. 

In 2025, he announced his intention to run as an independent candidate in the Irish presidential election. He garnered support from President Donald Trump for his anti-immigration views. McGregor withdrew from the race just a month before the election.  

The international fight night event McGregor is rumored to be a part of is on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

On April 5, 2018, UFC superstar Conor McGregor was arrested and charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief.

McGregor and around 20 others arrived at the Barclays Center in New York to confront Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team. McGregor threw a dolly at a bus transporting UFC fighters to the press conference, resulting in injuries to Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, who were forced to pull out of their fights.

McGregor turned himself in later that day, and in July 2018, he pleaded no contest. He was sentenced to five days of community service, and he was required to attend anger management classes.

On April 6, 2013, McGregor made his UFC debut, where he defeated Marcus Brimage by TKO in the first round.

McGregor won his first five fights in the UFC, which earned him a fight against Chad Mendes for the interim UFC featherweight championship. McGregor won by second-round TKO, and his popularity skyrocketed.

He became the undisputed featherweight champion that same year after he knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194.

On November 12, 2016, McGregor defeated lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to become the first-ever simultaneous double champ in UFC history.

At UFC 229, McGregor finally got his chance to fight Nurmagomedov, but he came up short as he lost by submission in the fourth round.

His last fight was in July 2021, where he lost to Dustin Poirier by doctor stoppage because he broke his left tibia.

Demonstrators marched in Dublin on Monday, November 25, in solidarity with Nikita Hand after she won a civil rape case against Conor McGregor. On Friday, a jury at Ireland’s High Court found that the mixed martial arts fighter had assaulted Hand in a hotel room in 2018. McGregor was ordered to pay Hand almost €250,000 ($263,000) in damages. Footage from Councillor Ruth Coppinger shows people marching to the Director of Public Prosecutions office, chanting, “DPP, hear us clear, we stand with survivors here” and “We don’t care about your fame when you lie and victim-blame.” The DPP declined to take a criminal case against McGregor. (Credit: Ruth Coppinger via Storyful)

He’s not just dangerous in the octagon—Conor McGregor can also cause chaos behind the wheel.

The MMA icon was arrested Tuesday night for dangerous driving in his $184,000 Bentley Continental GT on a motorway in Dublin. The 33-year-old is due to appear at Blanchardstown District Court next month.

McGregor, who was pulled over while traveling to the gym along the N4 between Lucan and Palmerstown, had his vehicle seized but has since gotten it back.

“The Notorious”—who hasn’t fought since losing to Dustin Poirier last July, his third loss in four tries—passed the drug and alcohol tests administered at the station.

He’s expected to fight again this year, though his date and opponent have not yet been announced.

Last night, MMA star Conor McGregor delivered a ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field before the Twins-Cubs game that sailed juuust a bit outside.

McGregor provided a tongue-in-cheek explanation for what had transpired, “The most devastating first pitch ever seen at the iconic Wrigley Field … The venom is there, the power was there ”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUHEQB_LSs-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

Honorable mentions for worst first pitch include:

1. 50 Cent

2. John Wall Throwing a Bounce Pass

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been outspoken about his belief that Conor McGregor has seen the last of his days in mixed martial arts and advocates for the MMA to stop supporting McGregor after his recent loss to Dustin Poirier.

Prior to Nurmagomedov’s retirement in 2020, he defeated McGregor in a 2018 title fight. Both before and after the fight, things got chaotic. McGregor threw an object at the bus Nurmagomedov was on and insulted Nurmagomedov’s wife, father and religion. Nurmagomedov famously leaped out of the octagon and confronted McGregor’s team after defeating him.

On Saturday, July 10, McGregor lost to Poirier at UFC 264 after a doctor stoppage was implemented due to McGregor breaking his leg. Even after the loss, McGregor directed threats and insults at Poirier. Nurmagomedov claims the sport will be damaged if they continue to support McGregor. He believes McGregor will not see any more success in the future.

“Money and fame show who you are. All the time we hear that money and fame change people. No. When money and fame come, these two things show who you are. And what has McGregor done? He punched an old guy in a bar in 2019. You guys can watch everything he did and understand, it’s just like Dustin said, ‘This guy is a bag of s—,'” said Nurmagomedov in an interview with ESPN.

Nurmagomedov’s statement continued, “I saw a lot of tweets try to support him. How are you gonna support this guy? When kids, young generation watch him, watch this sport? If you want to promote your fight, promote. If the MMA community is going to support this bad people, this sport is going to go in a bad way.”

Nurmagomedov discussed McGregor’s current level of fighting and does not believe his old rival will ever return to his peak performance due to a ‘lack of hunger’ and the recent leg injury.

“Without broken legs, yes, he could be the same,” Nurmagomedov said. “But with broken legs, he’s never going to kick the same. With him, no, I don’t believe he’ll return to the top. Conor have good age 32, but what happened with his mind, legs — this guy is finished, but he’s good for promotion.”

Nurmagomedov went on to predict McGregor would be provided a matchup with either Poirier or Nate Diaz next but expects him to lose no matter the opponent.

Conor McGregor had an untimely injury in his UFC matchup against Dustin Porier, but the superstar and face of fighting is not letting the setback keep him down.

McGregor lodged his ankle and foot under himself when moving backward against Porier, leading to a gruesome-looking injury to his left leg. The injury forced a stoppage in the first round of the bout.

“Just out of the surgery room, everything went to plan, everything went perfect and I’m feeling tremendous. We’ve got six weeks on a crutch now and then we begin to build back,” McGregor said on social media.

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While the injury has caused many to question whether McGregor will ever step into the octagon again, UFC President Dana White assured reporters that there would be more fights offered to the Irish fighter and that he expects to see McGregor back soon.

Conor McGregor (22-5) returns to the octagon to fight Dustin Poirier (27-6) in a highly-anticipated trilogy bout at UFC 264.

Their first meeting took place in 2014 and it resulted in McGregor defeating “The Diamond” in the first round. Earlier this January at UFC 257, it was Poirier who took the win with a second-round KO over McGregor. Now McGregor gets another opportunity to step back in the cage for a third bout against “The Diamond.”

It’s a pivotal moment in McGregor’s career because he has never lost consecutive MMA bouts. In 2016, he avenged a second-round submission defeat to Nate Diaz by defeating him five months later by majority decision. The fight also matters to the Irish fighter because a defeat will surely relegate him from the list of possible title contenders at 155 pounds.

The two will fight at UFC 264 on Saturday, July 10. The McGregor vs Poirier trilogy bout will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be in front of a full-capacity crowd featuring close to 20,000 fans. UFC 264 is the first UFC-hosted full-capacity event in Las Vegas since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

The Full Fight Card will feature:

Early Prelims

Jennifer Maia (18-7-1) vs. Jessica Eye (15-9-0)

Omari Akhmedov (21-5-1) vs. Brad Tavares (18-7-0)

Zhalgas Zhumagulov (13-5-0) vs. Jerome Rivera (10-5-0)

Alen Amedovski (3-2-0) vs. Hu Yaozong (8-2-0)

Prelims

Carlos Condit (32-13-0) vs. Max Griffin (17-8-0)

Niko Price (14-4-0) vs. Michel Pereira (25-11-0)

Ryan Hall (8-1-0) vs. Ilia Topuria (10-0-0)

Dricus du Plessis (15-2-0) vs. Trevin Giles (14-2-0)

Main Event

Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor

Gilbert Burns (19-4-0) vs. Stephen Thompson (16-4-1)

Tai Tuivasa (12-3-0) vs. Greg Hardy (7-3-0)

Irene Aldana (12-6-0) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (14-5-0)

Sean O’Malley (13-1-0) vs. Kris Moutinho (9-4-0)

The long-awaited Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Logan Paul exhibition match will happen. The two will fight on June 6 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The news of the bout was confirmed on Twitter by the Mayweather Promotions, who tweeted out the news along with the caption, “The historic crossover event is signed & sealed!” the tweet read. “Mayweather vs. Paul live at Hard Rock Sunday, June 6th.”

The fight was originally scheduled for February but was postponed indefinitely until Tuesday’s announcement. The date of the fight is later than when most had speculated. It was expected that the two would fight on June 5.

The announcement did not give more details about the fight nor did it disclose the rules. When the fight was originally scheduled for February, the agreed terms required Mayweather to weigh under 160 pounds and for Paul to weigh under 190 pounds.

Mayweather’s last professional fight was in 2017 against UFC star Conor McGregor. It was one of the most hyped crossover matches and was a 10-round TKO win for Mayweather. The win improved the five-time champion’s career record to 50-0. The boxing legend last fought in 2018 in an exhibition bout against Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa. The exhibition match resulted in another win for the boxing legend, a first-round TKO win.

On the other hand, Paul along with his younger brother, Jake Paul, are YouTubers-turned-boxers. The elder Paul has not experienced the same success as his younger brother. The elder has only had two boxing bouts, an exhibition and a professional one. Both bouts were against fellow YouTuber KSI. Both matches were a loss for the elder Paul.

Mayweather is the overwhelming favorite to win the exhibition match. For now, there is no additional information about the fight card.

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UFC star Conor McGregor and his business partner sold their majority stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey to Proximo Spirits in a deal that is worth up to $600 million.

Proximo Spirits is a company that owns Jose Cuervo and other alcohol brands that acquired the majority stake in Proper No. Twelve. Proximo already had a 49% stake in the company. The $600 million earned in the deal will go to brand co-founders McGregor, his agent Audie Attar and their trade partner Ken Austin.

Austin told Shanken News Daily that it was their plan all along to have Proximo eventually buy a majority stake in the company. “When we started this business with Proximo, we basically laid out, I’ll call it certain hurdles, that would allow them to buy pieces of the company over time,” Austin said. “We hit a milestone and it gave Proximo the opportunity to own a significant stake.”

Mike Keyes, Proximo’s CEO, revealed that McGregor will still play an active role in the Irish whiskey brand. “Since introducing this brand with Conor and his partners just two and a half years ago, Proper No. Twelve has been the most exciting brand in the Irish whiskey category,” Keyes said. “The brand continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, and this agreement reflects Proximo’s commitment to expanding its presence in the whiskey category as a whole.”

The Irish fighter made a social media post following the deal with Proximo. “Wow!! In just under 3 years, we went from a dream to the biggest Irish Whiskey in the world!” McGregor said. “A HUGE step for Proper No. Twelve today as we now forge ahead”

“Proper Twelve is my baby for life, and I am just warming up the barrels here!” the UFC fighter wrote. “What I have in store for you all will not only take Proper Twelve to the absolute pinnacle of Irish Whiskey! But of all spirits!”

On Wednesday, UFC president Dana White announced UFC 264’s location and the number of fans that will be allowed into the arena.

UFC 264 will be held on July 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada at T-Mobile Arena. The event will be headlined by the showdown between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

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“I’m so happy to finally be able to say Vegas is back,” White said in his announcement video. “This summer Las Vegas is back open for business, and on July 10, UFC 264 will be at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 100% capacity. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s 20,000 fans.”

The main event of UFC 264 will be the third fight between McGregor and Poirier. The two competitors got into a Twitter feud over the past weekend. The feud began when Poirier called McGregor out for not donating to a charity like agreed upon during their second fight. It resulted in a back-and-forth between the two fighters before the Irish fighter seemingly called the fight off and said that he’ll look for another opponent.

However, things have dramatically changed since then. “I signed bout agreement this morning,” McGregor told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “I’m going to rip this game a new a–hole July 10th,” the Irishman expressed. “The Mac is back in Sin City! Full house!”

The two fighters will meet with one another for the third fight in their trilogy series. Their first bout resulted in a victory for McGregor. Earlier in January, the two fighters met for a second match, which resulted in a TKO victory for Poirer. This third fight is for all the marbles!

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Following Conor McGregor’s stunning second-round TKO defeat by Dustin Poirier, former opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr. took shots at McGregor.

The 43-year-old boxing legend had previously faced the Irishman in a 2017 boxing bout that was much hyped, ending in a victory for Mayweather, who won in the 10th round.

Mayweather went onto a tirade and blasted his former opponent by calling him “Con Artist McLoser.” This was in response to an Instagram post asking, “Why is Mayweather hated for the way he carries himself, but McGregor is loved for the same way he carries himself?”

Mayweather kicked off his tirade by complaining, “My take on it is that the world knows Con Artist McLoser can steal everything from me and be loved, but I’m hated,” he said. “That just lets you all know that racism still exists. Just know, that bum will never be me or be on my level.”

The boxer went on to praise himself. “I’m just built different, my mindset is on another planet, my skills are second to none, I’m a natural-born winner, and yes I talk a lot of trash, but every time I back it up! This is what they hate,” Mayweather said. “It’s sad that you can be a poor black kid from the ghetto that has dealt with racism your whole life and work extremely hard to put yourself and your family in a better position, and most of the hate comes from my own people.”

Mayweather finished his rant by attacking the Irish fighter once more amid rumors of a possible fight between his former rival Manny Pacquiao and McGregor. “Connor cannot even win in his own sport, but talking about coming back to boxing to fight Pacquiao,” he said. “Nobody wants to see that, it’s like my leftovers eating leftovers.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKa91IqFzot/

On Sunday, UFC Superstar Conor McGregor announced on social media that he would be retiring once again.

This announcement has some not so happy with the former lightweight and featherweight champion. One of the critics includes Floyd Mayweather, who defeated McGregor in a 10-round boxing match back in 2017 by TKO. 

Mayweather commented on McGregor’s social media post, calling out his former opponent. “If I’m not mistaken, didn’t you tell Mike Tyson you could beat me if we fought a second time? Now you’re quitting! I thought you wanted to beat the best? Well, if you decide to come back, I will be waiting to punish you again,” Mayweather said. 

McGregor has been campaigning for a rematch with Mayweather, but after beating Donald Cerrone back in January, the UFC has been unable to find McGregor a fight, which has some believing that this is the reason for the sudden retirement. Speaking with ESPN, McGregor said that fighting was not as fun for him anymore. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute,” he said. “There’s nothing that’s exciting me.”

SLIDESHOW: 50 GREAT SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019

Of all the major sports organizations that fans are checking up on to see for a potential return, one of the more quiet corners of the sports world is MMA and the UFC. 

But that doesn’t mean the sports biggest face has stopped trying to help out his home country any less. 

On Thursday, Irish UFC mega-star Conor McGregor delivered supplies to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin on Thursday. 

The former UFC double champ previously donated 1 million euros worth of medical supplies to Irish hospitals.

“Today I am purchasing myself, one million euro with of personal protective equipment to be employed to all the fighting hospitals in the Leinster region. Our most affected region, to this date,” McGregor told TMZ in March. 

As for McGregor himself, he last fought on January 18 against Donald Cerrone and won in style with a TKO just 40 seconds into the match. Fans of McGregor, especially the Irish, are eagerly anticipating his next match. 

CORONAVIRUS FAQ: WIKI OF MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

Fight fans may want to see a Conor McGregor versus Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch, but that does not appear to be happening anytime soon. According to Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, Nurmagomedov remains uninterested in fighting McGregor again… unless it’s in the street.

“The only chance this fight could happen is in the street,” Abdelaziz said. “[McGregor would] have to do something spectacular. He’s s—, you understand? … Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars, because he’s one of the biggest scumbags.”

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The first bout between these two was back in October 2018 where Nurmagomedov walked away with a victory after a fourth round submission win.

Those who watched remember the post-fight brawl that spilled over into the crowd when Nurmagomedov attacked McGregor’s teammates. Tensions had been high due to McGregor’s harsh words, including those against Nurmagomedov’s Muslim faith, and the dolly assault on the bus committed by McGregor.

Nurmagomedov is set to fight Tony Ferguson as he hopes to defend his title at UFC 249 in April.

“Conor needs to earn things,” Abdelaziz said. “He was a champion. He needs to earn things. Khabib really, really wants to make him earn it. It doesn’t matter, because what he says. We have a really, really tough fight. Everybody forgets about Tony, dismissing him. Khabib has been training for three months straight and he has two more months.”

Those around the sport would think this fight would need to happen, if not for the fans, then strictly for financial purposes. A second fight would be quite lucrative and, as UFC president Dana White has expressed, it would be the biggest fight in UFC history.

“Listen, there’s a lot of money for Khabib if Khabib fights Conor,” Abdelaziz said. “But everything is not about money. Especially with Khabib.”

As the Nurmagomedov-Ferguson fight approaches, fans will wonder if a Nurmagomedov-McGregor 2 will ever come to fruition.

Conor McGregor has begun his comeback tour and quickly when he knocked out Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in just 40 seconds in UFC 246.

T-Mobile Arena saw an end to McGregor’s more than three-year drought and witnessed the fastest finish recorded against Cerrone.

Cerrone, who has developed a reputation for struggling in big moments, did himself no favors last night.

As for McGregor, UFC president Dana White said there should only be one foe for his next fight: the Russian, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov is set to fight Tony Ferguson on April 18 at UFC 249, but McGregor has expressed his desire to fight three times this year.

“Look, do I want to see Conor fight three times this year? Sure,” White said. “Do I want to see Masvidal against Conor? Sure. But you’ve gotta do what makes sense, too. And I just really think the Khabib-Conor fight is big for both of their legacies and obviously for the sport.”

Celebrities were out in full force last night to watch the McGregor return. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in attendance, as well as Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Actors Matthew McConaughey and Jeremy Renner were present, as well as Steve–O, along with Ludacris.

After a year out of the Octagon, Conor McGregor is set to make his return to take on Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246. The former featherweight and lightweight champion is ready to give fans a long anticipated show.

‘Cowboy’ Cerrone has warned people not to count him out as McGregor looks to make a winning comeback in his first fight since October 2018.

Cerrone is the UFC’s all-time wins leader and has greater experience at welterweight, with 10 fights compared to McGregor’s two.

With both fighters weighing in at 170 lbs., Cerrone launched an angry tirade when asked if he and his chances had been written off.

“The light-hearted joking around with Cowboy, that’s all week long. It’s f****** game time. It’s time to go to work.” Cerrone said before storming out.

Dana White was very open about McGregor and his future.

“Conor was the 145-pound champ,” White said. “Many people thought he wouldn’t beat Eddie Alvarez…he knocked him out in the first round.”

“I don’t love him at 170 and this is something that Conor and I fight about and when I say these things he gets very upset with me.”

In response to McGregor’s current state, White said, “All the stuff that’s gone on with Conor over the last couple of years, people wanna see if he still has it. I was happy to see a happy, sane Conor McGregor. I’m cool with that.”

In the co-main event, former champion Holly Holm is set to face Raquel Pennington at women’s bantamweight.

Main Card

McGregor -320 vs. Cerrone +260 – Welterweights

Holm -130 vs. Pennington +110 – Women’s bantamweights

Maurice Greene -125 vs. Aleksei Oleinik +105 – Heavyweights

Ode Osbourne -137 vs. Brian Kelleher +110 – Bantamweights

Carlos Diego Ferreira -240 vs. Anthony Pettis +200 – Lightweights

Date: January 18

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Stream: ESPN Channel: ESPN

Stream: ESPN+  Price: $64.99

The UFC 246 prefight news conference featured a much more subdued Conor McGregor than we have become accustomed to seeing, with the fighter directing praise towards his opponent for Saturday’s fight, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. In past pressers, such as the one before his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor has often resorted to trash talk and traded personal barbs with opposing fighters. However, Wednesday night was a different story, with the Irishman taking a more respectful tone, while still predicting that he would emerge the victor:

“It’s hard not to respect Donald right now at this stage,” McGregor said. “He has my respect. And although there will be blood spilled on Jan. 18, it will not be bad blood. And for the Mystic Mac prediction, it will be a KO.”

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Cerrone also expressed an admiration for his opponent, despite the two having a less than cordial history, having sparred with each other in a 2015 new conference:

“He did everything he said he was gonna do, didn’t he?” Cerrone said. “Any feelings? Yeah, he’s f—ing great man and I’m honored to share the thing with him.”

While much of the media session centered around Saturday’s fight, Cerrone did criticize a reporter who tried to ask McGregor about the two sexual assault allegations in his native Ireland which was  detailed by a report from the New York Times:

“We’re here to talk about a fight, nothing he does outside of fighting,” Cerrone said.

Looking past this Saturday, McGregor noted that, provided he came out of Saturday’s fight with relatively little damage, he could potentially fight again in the near future with a quick turnaround. When asked whether the March 7 UFC 248 card, which is currently lacking a main event, could be a target for him, McGregor responded “God willing, we come out safe from this bout here Saturday night. Most certainly, March would be well attainable.”

While the matchup this Saturday will certainly be intense with McGregor looking to pick up his first UFC win since 2016, Wednesday’s press conference showed that the two men in the Octagon have nothing but respect for the other.

Attention, all mixed martial arts fans: tickets for UFC 246 are now on sale!

The main card will see controversial former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor face welterweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Jan. 18. The bout will begin at 3 p.m. local time.

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 This fight had first been rumored to take place more than a year ago. However, UFC president Dana White said in March that the organization was still “nowhere close” to having the matchup finalized.

White also revealed at the time that McGregor — who has had several legal issues in recent years due to violent incidents — was aching for a lightweight title rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor lost to Nurmagomedov via fourth-round submission at UFC 229 in October 2018. The 31-year-old Irishman served a six-month suspension due to his involvement in an altercation that happened after the event.

SLIDESHOW: 50 GREAT SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019

Former kickboxer Cerrone passed Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre for the most wins in UFC history in November 2018 with 21, so McGregor will certainly have his work cut out for him at UFC 246.

McGregor and Cerrone have a combined 28 knockout victories between them, so their upcoming fight will likely be a very captivating one. McGregor mainly relies on his hands for offense during fights, while Cerrone tends to follow a more traditional Muay Thai-like strategy for strikes and often uses jabs. His head kick is also famous for being deadly, so he’s expected to use it against an opponent as fierce as McGregor.

Tickets for UFC 246 are now available on StubHub and start as low as $280. Be sure to get yours today before it’s too late!