The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s pay-per-view partner, ESPN, has dropped a new video promo for Conor McGregor’s much-awaited return to the Octagon.
McGregor, who formerly holds the lightweight and featherweight titles, will be making a comeback later this month as he faces Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.
The two fan-favourites will clash in an intriguing welterweight bout at the T-mobile Arena, which marks the Irishman’s return at 170 pounds after more than three years.
Prior to his return, ‘The Notorious’ was last seen fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229, where he was submitted in the fourth round via rear naked choke.
The UFC and ESPN have been busy promoting the fight as the promotion looks to start the new year on a high note, following a financially successful 2019.
During the NFL Wild Card last weekend, a new video promo for McGregor’s return was released, which had fans more excited for UFC 246.
Watch the video below:
Conor ad during the #NFLWildCard game. pic.twitter.com/17KqJ0Gezb
— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) January 4, 2020
Excited
UFC president Dana White said everybody is excited to see McGregor compete in the cage again after more than a year of hiatus.
The outspoken promotion head stressed the Irishman remains one of the most entertaining and exciting fighters in the UFC roster.
“Conor is one of those guys who’s got this incredible personality, who has that ‘it’ factor that makes him a big star,” he told UFC.com.
“But most importantly, the kid comes in and puts on unbelievably exciting fights.”
“And everything from him showing up to the arena, to the press conference, to the weigh-ins are all just as entertaining and exciting as the fight.”
“He’s got people on both sides—people who hate him and people who love him – but everybody is excited to see him back.”
McGregor plans to have a busy fighting career this year as he eyes another welterweight fight after UFC 246 before facing Nurmagomedov in a rematch.
According to White, the fight against Cerrone will be crucial on the revival of Conor’s career and a win could set him up to a second meeting with the lightweight champion.
Thoughts on UFC 246 Poster? #UFC #UFC245 #UFC246 #UFC247 #MMA #MMATwitter #MMA2019 pic.twitter.com/x7gtnD93Qy
— The Combat Hour (@HourCombat) December 14, 2019
Check out the full line-up for the UFC 246 fight card (courtesy of MMA Fighting):
Main Card
Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Maurice Greene
Claudia Gadelha vs. Alexa Grasso
Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
Anthony Pettis vs. Diego Ferreira
Undercard
Andre Fili vs. Sodiq Yusuff
Drew Dober vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Aleksa Camur vs. Justin Ledet
Tim Elliott vs. Askar Askarov
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Maycee Barber
Chas Skelly vs. Grant Dawson
Brian Kelleher vs. Ode Osbourne
The return of the notorious! January 18th. @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/DFRS2JOLDu
— KSGFX (@KaustuvGraphics) January 6, 2020
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor)