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The UFC’s 2020 calendar kicks off with a bang Saturday night, as the biggest star in mixed martial arts returns after a hiatus of more than a year.
Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] headlines UFC 246 in a welterweight fight against popular veteran [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag]. On paper, the pairing simply seems like a fun fight for the fans, but it comes at an important juncture in both fighters’ careers. The result will also have a major impact on the UFC’s business plans for the rest of the year.
And while a casual fan might skim the evening’s lineup and think “one-fight card,” the truth is, with a little digging, you’ll find there are several matchups of major consequence to both their respective divisions and the career paths of the fighters involved.
UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
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Without further ado, here are six burning questions heading into the card.
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Can Conor McGregor still bring it in the cage?
Make no mistake about it: McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) still moves the needle. From the biggest mainstream sports shows to the comments section of MMA sites (where people complain “too much Conor” while still themselves reading every single McGregor story on any given MMA site), there has been more attention paid to the UFC this week than, well, the last time we saw McGregor fight 15 months ago.
So if people want to complain that the public is sick of McGregor, hate to break it to you: This week has shown otherwise.
But then, a significant part of the interest in this fight is based on a simple premise: Can McGregor still deliver the goods where it counts, in the cage?
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We’re more than three years removed from his last victory, his lightweight-title winning effort over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. Ask the Fedor Emelianenko of 2011 or the Chuck Liddell of 2009 just how much things can change in three years.
McGregor has been saying all the right things during UFC 246 fight week: He’s cleaning up his act, he’s never trained harder, he’s putting his indiscretions in his past. The UFC is giving him the best opportunity he’ll ever have to regain his fastball by putting him in with a fighter he should beat in Cerrone (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC).
If he does that, he’ll once again be able to call his own shots. If not? Well, at some point, no matter how big you talk, you need to be able to back up your words.
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