There’s little to be said about Conor McGregor or Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone that hasn’t already been hashed out in excruciating detail for weeks now. Suffice to say that the two legends finally did their thing at UFC 246, and it was about 40 seconds of insanity.
McGregor was clearly and finally back in his element in the Octagon, exploding into the action the moment the bell rang. He threw a quick left which Cowboy dodged, changing his level and transitioning to the clinch immediately as Cowboy recalibrated. Once clinched, McGregor used his shoulder to brutalize Cowboy’s face, possibly breaking Cerrone’s nose with the first strike and drilling the eye by the third.
Cerrone literally didn’t know what hit him.
Rocked and bloodied, it was McGregor’s high head kick to left combo which brought Cowboy to the ground. Ref. Herb Dean gave Cerrone ample time to rally as McGregor rained down punches, but it was no good. The fight was stopped in under one minute.
McGregor quickly made his way over to the grounded Cerrone, hugging him and starting to explain the shoulder strikes before taking a full Irish victory lap around the ring.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Cerrone said after the fight, bruised and swollen, of the surprise shoulder blows which led to the swift defeat. “Oh man, that happened THIS fast? I got my ass whipped early.”
Joe Rogan has already declared that “the King is back” in reference to Conor’s win. Whether he can reclaim a belt is yet to be seen, but there’s no question that was a royally exhilarating performance from a former champ who very much still belongs in the MMA world today.
