Conor McGregor Explains Why Donald Cerrone Is First on His “List”

Conor McGregor has answers for the many people who have been wondering why he will be facing Donald Cerrone of all people in the UFC 246 headliner.

Donald Cerrone is one of the most respected names in the history of the UFC, but the fact that he is currently on a two-fight losing streak had many wondering why McGregor will be facing him upon his return instead of other options, such as Justin Gaethje. There is more than one reason for Cerrone being McGregor’s UFC 246 dancing partner, but it all comes back to bringing closure to a fight a long time in the making and also keeping his word.

“Me and Donald have had a history for a while, and I did say I’d fight him,” McGregor said Friday in an interview with TheMacLife. “If you look at the list of callouts and people I have engaged with, Cowboy was probably one of the first ones, so he’s first on the list. And that’s it. And I’ll get to every single one of them also.”

Conor McGregor is referring back to when he said he would fight Donald Cerrone following Cerrone’s impressive victory over Al Iaquinta in May. Those talks progressed but were reportedly shut down by McGregor after the UFC planned to have the contest take place as a co-main event instead of a main event. Well, here we are, two weeks away from the very same fight serving as a headliner, so those concerns of McGregor have been assuaged.

But that still leaves the question of why the fight is taking place at welterweight. Dana White has answered that question on McGregor’s behalf, but McGregor would address it himself directly.

“Well, first of all, it’s what I weigh right now,” McGregor said. “So what’s the lightweight title fight? April, is it? So weight cut to that, and then likely something will happen there, so I’ll be ready to slide in for that belt. A good, solid camp at 170 with no weight cut, a good fight…I know Donald’s a good fighter…great record, most knockdowns, most head kicks, most fights, most rounds…he’s got a lot of UFC records under his belt. So I get a great camp, a great fight, and then it’ll take me into the year.

“I’m looking at this as a season, so this is the beginning of the season,” McGregor continued. “Donald was the first one I agreed to have a bout with, and here we are.”