Dana White, the president of the UFC, has confirmed that Conor McGregor will fight in the octagon again this coming January. As ESPN's Brett Okamoto reports, White said McGregor will fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 on Jan. 18 in the welterweight division. McGregor is notably a featherweight and lightweight champion, and he has been on a hiatus of sorts from MMA for quite some time now.
"Conor has signed and Cerrone is ready to go," White said. McGregor hasn't been in the octagon since he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018, who he has been challenging to a rematch ever since.
McGregor previously indicated that he would make his highly-anticipated return in January 2020 earlier this year. "As far as the opponent, I have the opponent's name, but from experience if I was to give you the name I know the UFC would flip it because they are a crafty company," he said at a news conference in Moscow, Russia. "So ask the UFC who the opponent is, because I do not give a fuck who the opponent is."
He gave the impression then, that he will face off against whoever wins the fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal, but a follow-up fight is dependent on McGregor winning.
Earlier this month, the controversy-prone McGregor pleaded guilty to punching a man at an Irish bar in April. "I assure you nothing of this nature will happen again regarding me," he said in court after he was hit with a fine of €1,000—about $1,116. He has since apologized for the incident and admitted, "I was in the wrong."
