This past weekend at UFC 246, “The Notorious” Conor McGregor made the walk to the octagon to face Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. This was the first time the Irishman has fought since the UFC switched over to ESPN coverage. McGregor did not disappoint by disposing of the Cowboy in 40 seconds by a head kick and ground-n-pound. Here is a breakdown of the night:
Back by Demand – Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor is the UFC’s most talented and worthy draw currently on the fighter roster (in most opinions, not mine). It’s been nearly 18 months since the last time “Notorious” was viciously smashed and rag-dolled by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the nastiest feud the promotion has ever seen.
Casual MMA fans missed Conor McGregor as did the UFC. His return to the MMA wasn’t without doubts. There were questions about whether Conor was committed to MMA as he was focusing on other business ventures as well as legal trouble. Questions were also asked about his ability to perform. Having not won a fight since 2016 and only being 2-3 in his last 5 professional fights (including the Mayweather fight) raised concerns. Also, his return fight was being held at welterweight was worrisome because it’ll mean he is a smaller and presumably less powerful man. This fight wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for him. A very engaging storyline for fight fans to follow.
Buildup & Coverage of UFC 246
ESPN decided to piggyback hard on Conor’s return. They released a commercial during the NFL playoffs promoting his fight without even mentioning who he was fighting. That was extremely surprising because Cowboy Cerrone also has a large fan base. Some considered this gesture by the World Wide Leader of Sports to be a slap in the face of Cerrone.
It was also interesting to note the way Conor went about promoting the fight. Normally, McGregor engages in verbal trash talk to get into the head of his opponents however for this fight, he was exceptionally cordial and treated Cowboy with the respect he deserves. With all going on with Conor outside the Octagon and the build-up to his bout at UFC 223, this deviation was great to see. It seemed like Conor was backed to old, humble self just like when he first started in the UFC trying to make a name for himself.
Conor McGregor vs Cowboy Cerrone – Fight Analysis
If you were to look at the card as a hardcore fan, you can tell right away that it was extremely top-heavy and relied on some older familiar faces to carry the new talent the UFC was trying to promote. But let’s be real, UFC 246 was a weak card by all standards. With that in mind, you can’t ignore that this was a card that sold out, filled 19,000 seats at T-Mobile Arena, and generated nearly $10 million at the gate. Largely, thanks to the return of Conor.
After enduring the snoozefest of Holly Holm clinching Raquel Pennington to a unanimous decision. Donald Cerrone and Conor McGregor made the walk to the Octagon. 40 seconds later, Conor McGregor was celebrating a TKO victory. It was a wonderful performance but left fans wanting more.
There were questions regarding Cowboy’s toughness and role in the fight. “Cowboy” is a company man that should be respected by all for what he has done in the ring. He was clearly out-classed in this bout. It was a fight between a fighter at the tail end of his career and a fighter at the peak of his career. The satisfaction of Cerrone potentially pulling a miracle was very appetizing to the storyline and a completely plausible outcome, but this is MMA we are talking about. But when push comes to shove, Conor McGregor is going to walk out victorious 9 of out 10 times in a fight like that.
Post Fight – Cerrone vs McGregor
So UFC 246 was a tremendous success. While the real PPV numbers won’t be released by the time this piece of content gets published, we have to go by indications. According to Bloody Elbow, 2 million pay per views were purchased for UFC 246. This is the best result since the UFC has switched over to ESPN.
From a series of tweets from Jed I. Goodman, the viewership for the prelims on ESPN was the highest since the first ESPN+ 1 card in Brooklyn. An average of 1.7 million people watched the prelims for UFC 246 at a given time. This was also the second-highest prelim viewership on a Conor McGregor era. The only event that rated higher was UFC 194 when Conor McGregor took on Jose Aldo.
On the social media side of things, Reddit channel r/mma has been a trending community for the balance of the week.
According to Google Trends, searches for Conor McGregor, UFC peaked around the time he made the walk to the Octagon (12am EST Sunday 1/19). Searches for ESPN peaked around 10 pm EST which was the start time of the PPV.
Conclusion
This was a great start to 2020 for the MMA space. The UFC made the great business decision to have Conor fight on the first card of the year. The interest brought in new fans who will be subscribing to ESPN packages, tuning into PPVs, and buying tickets to see what the rest of 2020 plays out.
Be sure to check out my last blog post here.
