We are just under two weeks away from UFC 246 on Saturday, January 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahead of the pay-per-view event — which features the highly-anticipated return of former two-division champion Conor McGregor — the promotion is heating up.
Over the weekend, ESPN dropped a brand new UFC 246 promo to promote what will be the ESPN pay-per-view debut of McGregor.
The 25-second spot featured the Eminem hit song “Without Me” as it hyped up McGregor’s return to the Octagon. There was one noticeable absence, however, with McGregor’s main event opponent, fan-favorite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, never appearing in the ad.
You can check out the promo below.
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.
The UFC 246 main card will officially kickoff at 10:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 18 exclusively on pay-per-view.
