Conor McGregor is just over two weeks away from making his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 246 in Las Vegas, Nevada against fan-favorite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Ahead of his pay-per-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, January 18, the former two-division champion appears to be in incredible shape.
McGregor recently took to social media to share a post-workout photo that reveals just how jacked the brash Irishman is.
It appears clear that McGregor has been taking his training seriously for the welterweight scrap — which gives extra validity to comments made by longtime head coach John Kavanaugh who said we will see the best version of McGregor that we have ever seen. Kavanaugh made his comments following the “last heavy sparring” session of McGregor’s preparation.
“Jan 1st, last heavy spar today before going to Vegas,” Kavanaugh wrote on Twitter. “Can honestly say this is the best I’ve seen him and I wasn’t sure that was possible to do 6 months ago. You guys are in for a real treat, I’m just glad to have a good seat!”
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McGregor last appeared inside of the Octagon in October 2018 when he suffered a submission loss to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Prior to his loss to Nurmagomedov, McGregor was on a two-fight winning streak with a welterweight bout victory over Nate Diaz and a Performance of the Night against Eddie Alvarez to claim the 155-pound title on November 12, 2016. However, McGregor was later stripped of the title due to inactivity — he was previously stripped of the featherweight belt after winning the lightweight crown.
Cerrone, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after a two-fight losing streak. “Cowboy” went 2-2 in 2019 with wins over Al Iaquinta and Alexander Hernandez, while suffering losses to top lightweight contenders Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Three of Cerrone’s last four fights earned him $50,000 bonuses for Fight of the Night.
According to BetMGM.com, McGregor has opened as nearly a 3-to-1 favorite. The moneyline currently has the former two-division champion as a -278 favorite for the welterweight bout while Cowboy sits at +200. That means a $100 wager on Cerrone would net you $200 in wins, while you would have to bet $278 on McGregor to win $100.
