McGregor and Cerrone face off for the first time.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Conor McGregor is back this weekend. After losing to Khabib Nurmagemedov in October 2018 — in a rivalry that often went to weird, racially charged areas — McGregor is returning to the octagon at UFC 246 against perennial fan favourite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The press conference is over, both fighters have now made weight. Now all that’s left is the fight itself.
And love him or hate him, there’s nothing quite like a Conor McGregor fight. The build-up, the media, the interviews — McGregor has a way of raising the stakes of every single contest he’s involved in to absolute fever pitch. This time he’s testing his unique high-pressure/counter-punching style against Donald Cerrone, a fighter also known for being involved in entertaining fights. The twist? The fight is at welterweight (170 pounds), not at featherweight (145) where McGregor made his reputation, or lightweight (155) where McGregor was also once champion. Welterweight gives Cerrone, who had a very successful run at 170, a distinct size advantage over McGregor.
In short, this isn’t a tune-up fight. It’s a fascinating match-up that most expect McGregor to win, but this is MMA and anything can happen.
Here are all the details you need to know.
Start time
UFC 246 takes place on Saturday Jan. 18 in the US.
Here are the start times by region.
United States
The Main Card starts at 10 p.m. (ET)
The Prelims start at 8 p.m. (ET)
The Early Prelims start at 6:15 p.m. (ET)
United Kingdom
(Note in the UK UFC 246 runs through into Sunday Jan. 19.)
The Main Card starts at 3 a.m. (GMT)
The Prelims start at 1 a.m. (GMT)
The Early Prelims start at 11:15 p.m. (GMT)
Australia
(Note in Australia UFC 246 starts on Sunday, Jan. 19.)
The Main Card starts at 2 p.m. (AEDT)
The Prelims start at 12 p.m. (AEDT)
The Early Prelims start at 10:15 a.m. (AEDT)
How to watch
This year the UFC entered a new partnership with ESPN. That’s great news for the UFC and the expansion of the sport of MMA, bad news for consumer choice. If you live in the US especially.
Note that CNET may get a share of the revenue if you buy any services linked via our site.
In the US, you can only watch UFC 246 on PPV through ESPN+. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options, according to ESPN’s site.
- Existing yearly ESPN+ subscribers can buy the event for $65.
- Existing monthly ESPN+ subscribers will be able to either upgrade to an annual plan and purchase UFC PPV for $85 OR purchase the UFC PPV for $65 by itself.
- New ESPN+ subscribers can buy a bundle of one UFC PPV event (streaming in HD) and an ESPN+ annual recurring subscription for $85. The ESPN+ annual subscription will auto-renew after one year, at the price of an ESPN+ annual subscription at the time of auto-renewal.
You can do all of the above at the link below.
MMA fans in the UK can watch UFC 246 exclusively through BT Sport. There are more options if you live in Australia. You can watch UFC 246 through Main Event on Foxtel. You can also watch on the UFC website or using its app. You can even order using your PlayStation 4 or using the UFC app on your Xbox One.
Who’s fighting?
Main card
Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone
Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
Maurice Greene vs. Aleksei Oleinik
Claudia Gadelha vs. Alexa Grasso
Diego Ferreira vs. Anthony Pettis
Prelims
Maycee Barber vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Andre Fili vs. Sodiq Yusuff
Drew Dober vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Grant Dawson vs. Chas Skelly
Early Prelims
Aleksa Camur vs. Justin Ledet
Askar Askarov vs. Tim Elliott
Brian Kelleher vs. Ode Osbourne
J.J. Aldrich vs. Sabina Mazo
Press conference
The press conference has come and gone, but you can watch the replay here. It was a relatively tame affair compared to previous McGregor press events, but there was some gold here and there.
It’s an interesting dynamic. Conor is clearly on the redemption tour and Cerrone just seems happy to be along for the ride.
You can watch it below
Editors’ note: This story was originally published earlier, and has been updated to correct the pricing tiers for existing versus new ESPN+ subscribers.