LAS VEGAS – For all the questions coming into the highly anticipated fight between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone, making weight was not one of them. And both hit their marks with ease Friday morning at the Palms Casino Resort.
McGregor hit the scale at 170 pounds and Cerrone was 170 ahead of their UFC 246 main event fight, which is scheduled for Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
This bout is being contested at welterweight, though both men are considered natural lightweights. McGregor fought at welterweight previously when he went 1-1 against Nate Diaz in 2016. Cerrone went 6-4 during a welterweight run between 2016 and 2018.
The stakes are extremely high for both men Saturday.
McGregor is making his comeback to the UFC after more than 15 months away from the Octagon after a 2019 rife with outside-the-cage issues, including several arrests. He pleaded guilty to punching an older man in a Dublin bar in November. The New York Times has reported that McGregor is the subject of two separate alleged sexual assault investigations in his native Ireland, accusations which McGregor has denied.
McGregor remains the biggest star on the UFC roster and the biggest moneymaker in the promotion’s history. A victory will likely earn him a lightweight title shot, per UFC president Dana White, and a step toward rehabbing his tarnished image. McGregor has said he wants to fight three times in 2020, if not more.
For the popular veteran Cerrone, the bout is a chance to jettison the albatross of never being able to win the big fight. ESPN has Cerrone ranked No. 5 in the world at lightweight and a victory over McGregor would vault him even higher. “Cowboy” has already said the McGregor bout has led to him getting the largest contract of his nine-year UFC career.
McGregor (21-4) has not fought since a loss to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018. His last UFC win came when he beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt in 2016. McGregor, 31, is one of just four UFC fighters to hold titles in two different divisions at the same time – and he was the first to ever do it.
Cerrone (36-13, 1 NC) is on a two-fight losing skid. He was stopped via TKO by Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje last year, but remains one of the most well-known – and most exciting – fighters in the UFC. Prior to that, “Cowboy” was on a three-fight winning streak and closing in on a lightweight title shot. Cerrone, 36, has the most wins (23) and most finishes (16) in UFC history.
Both co-main event fighters made weight. Holly Holm (135.5 pounds) and Raquel Pennington (136) will meet in a key women’s bantamweight bout. ESPN has Holm, the former champion, ranked No. 6 and Pennington at No. 7 in the division.