The UFC have revealed the medical suspensions to be served following UFC 246, and Donald Cerrone is facing a lengthy term away from the Octagon.
Cerrone faced Conor McGregor as the headliner at UFC 246 in Las Vegas.
The fight was McGregor’s first since he lost to Khabib Nurmagoemdov in October 2018.
It took ‘Notorious’ just 40 seconds to defeat the American, delivering multiple brutal shoulders to Cerrone’s face before downing him with a headkick.
See some action shots from McGregor’s 40 second knockout below:
View this post on Instagram
N O T O R I O U S #UFC246 ————————- #ConorMcGregor #Conor #UFC #MMA #Ireland #Cowboy
Sidelined
And Cerrone is now facing a long spell on the sidelines, with the UFC issuing a six-month medical suspension for suspected nasal and orbital fractures.
McGregor on the other hand walked away from the fight injury and ultimately suspension free.
Speaking post-fight, Cerrone explained how the surprise shoulder blows caught him off guard and did the damage early in the fight.
“Oh man he got me right away,” Cowboy said.
“Distorted the s*** outta me then head kicked me.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that,”
“They threw me way off guard.”
“He busted my nose, started bleeding then stepped back and head kicked me.”
“I was like, ‘oh man this happened this fast?’,”
“I got my a** whipped early.”
View this post on Instagram
“I’mma Keep Fighting”
But Cerrone seemed unaffected by the humiliating result, and it seems he’ll be straight back in the Octagon as soon as he’s cleared.
He continued: “Hey man, I love this sport”
“I’mma keep fighting”
“I don’t care you know, it’s just what I love, man”
Another fighter who faces a lengthy absence is Maycee Barber, who suffered a suspected ACL tear in her clash with Roxanne Modafferi.
Barber suffered the first defeat of her career in her loss to Modaferri.
And the 21-year-old has now been handed a 180-day suspension pending further medical assessment.
Maurice Greene, Diego Ferreira, Anthony Pettis, Sodiq Yusuff and JJ Aldrich all also face 180-days out.
Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington, whose co-headliner was criticised for its lack of action, join McGregor in walking away suspension free.
Route to Redemption
McGregor will now look to schedule his next fight as early as possible, as the Dubliner eyes a quick route to redemption.
The Irishman hadn’t won since 2016 prior to UFC 246 and had a controversial 15-month hiatus from the sport.
Back to winning ways, McGregor will aim to implement his 2020 three-fight plan and top the UFC roster once more.
A Khabib rematch and bouts with Jorge Masvidal and Justin Gaethje are all on the cards.
(Featured image source: Instagram/ UFC and Maycee Barber)