Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Conor McGregor will fight Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas this coming February. It will be the Irishman’s first fight in over a year, after losing to Khabib Nurmagamedov. Furthermore, it will see him take his third bout in the welterweight division. This definitely adds a sense of intrigue to the match-up.

Cerrone is a dangerous and wily opponent. In short, he’s the opposite to McGregor because he’s one of the UFC’s most active fighters. However, he’s also suffered knockouts in two of his last three fights, albeit against elite opposition. But it will be fascinating to see how McGregor copes with him after so long out.

‘The Notorious’ is currently putting on the required muscle mass to compete at welterweight. This has fans worried because McGregor has a history of gassing out. Check out the pictures below and see what you think.

Jacked

There’s no doubt that McGregor is jacked right now. He’s in phenomenal shape and has definitely put on some muscle. But some fans fear that it is too much. We saw McGregor gas out in his first fight against Nate Diaz. Meanwhile, he also lost energy in his rematch but managed to ride a second wave to victory. His TKO boxing defeat to Floyd Mayweather was also partly because of fatigue.

In short, that added muscle will require more oxygen to fuel it. Will this be McGregor’s downfall or can he get a quick knockout against a genuinely tough threat in Cerrone? You’ve got to feel that if the fight goes past the second round then ‘The Notorious’ is in trouble. ‘Cowboy’ is the opposite as his pace increases with the number of rounds.

Donald Cerrone. Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports.

Outrage

Meanwhile, Cerrone is outraged by the suggestion that he is getting paid to take a dive against McGregor. Of course, that’s rubbish. If he loses, he’ll go out on his shield like he always does. Cerrone is a true warrior. He responded to the ludicrous suggestion emphatically.

“Hell no, I’m not bowing down,” Cerrone told MMAFighting.com. “There’s a bunch of s*** going around, people keep telling me, ‘I heard you’re getting paid to take a dive.’ There wouldn’t be enough money in the world for someone to pay me to take a dive. I could never look myself in the mirror if somebody paid me to take a dive. S***, never happen. I’d rather fight for free than take money to f****** lose. That’s not me. I’m going to fight my ass off like I do every time.”

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Major

Every McGregor fight is a major event. Tickets for UFC 246 have already sold out. In short, it’s going to be one of the biggest cards of the year, even though it isn’t a title fight. Sometimes it just doesn’t matter. The ramifications are massive for ‘The Notorious.’ He needs to win if he ever wants to fight for a title again.

A loss would deal a savage blow to his image. In short, everything is riding on beating Cerrone. Can he do it?

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