Conor McGregor decimates Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in 40 seconds

Conor McGregor was back at his devastating, brutal best at UFC 246, destroying Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in just 40 seconds.

The pair, who have been cordial throughout the pre-fight build, showed no signs of friendliness once the fight had began.

In a wild opening exchange, McGregor launched a ferocious left hand which Cowboy managed to just about duck under, but his was met with a the knee of McGregor.

The pair then clinched and McGregor bloodied Cowboy’s nose with a string of crunching shoulder strikes.

They then disengaged the clinch and the Irishman was back on Cerrone with a head kick which staggered his foe.

McGregor followed up with a short, vertical flying knee and a number of big punches which sent Cowboy down to the floor.

Desperately trying to defend, Cerrone was met with more punches and referee Herb Dean was forced to call a stop to the fight.

Dublin’s McGregor was an executioner at UFC 246 and he couldn’t have wished for a more impactful performance on his long-awaited return to the Octagon.

It’s unclear what is next for McGregor. UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was apparently unimpressed at the win, and post-fight talk, though.

Holly Holm gets unanimous decision nod over Raquel Pennington in rematch

Holly Holm made it two wins over Raquel Pennington at UFC 246, comfortably earning a unanimous decision win in their rematch.

It was largely an uneventful first round. With three minutes remaining of the opening five, Holm initiated the clinch and pressed Pennington against the fence for almost the entirety with some knees and punches thrown into the mix.

As the horn sounded, Pennington was attempted a takedown while Holm held onto a half-hearted guillotine choke.

The second round followed a familiar route. Holm muscled her way to the clinch against the cage and Pennington seemed unable to separate effectively. That was until she launched a number of knees to Holm’s midriff which forced the latter to back off.

However, Holm quickly assumed the position with 90 seconds of the round left to the chagrin of the crowd. The inaction isn’t coming from a lack of Pennington trying as she tries to land strikes as the round closes out.

Perhaps in reaction to the noise emanating from the crowd, the third round started in the centre of the Octagon and stayed there… for a little while, at least.

Pennington landed some nice jabs, but Holm looked comfortable. The former then inexplicably looked to to clinch with Holm against the cage fence, who easily reversed position.

Holm briefly showed flashes of her kicking arsenal in the centre of the cage and Pennington replied in kind with a scrappy striking exchange which saw Holm stumble over. However, the fight once again resumed in a battle of underhooks and pummelling against the cage.

Referee Jason Herzog separated the fight with a minute left. In desperation, knowing she is more than likely behind on the scorecards, Pennington landed a couple of nice left hands but Holm was always in control as she rode out the remaining seconds of the fight on her way to a unanimous decision victory.

This wasn’t a marquee Holly Holm performance, nor was it a memorable fight. However, this sees Holm back in the win column after losing to Amanda Nunes by TKO last time out.

Aleksei Oleinik snatches armbar submission win against Maurice Greene

Like Brian Kelleher before him, Russia’s Aleksei Oleinik also snapped a two-fight losing streak with a submission win at UFC 246.

He and Maurice Greene got into it as soon as the fight began. The towering Greene landed a big kick which briefly floored Oleinik in the one of the contest’s first exchanges and this only served to hasten Oleinik’s urgency to take the fight down to the mat.

Initiating the clinch, Oleinik grabbed a hold of Greene, who responded in kind with holding onto a kimura. However, this enabled The Boa Constrictor to secure the takedown he was seeking, taking side control by the time the scramble ended.

Greene tried to make Oleinik’s life difficult on the ground as you could imagine, throwing up a couple of triangle attempts to keep the Russian at bay. It worked, allowing Greene to briefly get back to his feet, but the American was dragged back down to the floor.

After taking mount against the cage fence, Oleinik landed a big elbow before moving his legs over to take an uncomfortable-looking scarf-hold headlock. Greene was in that position for well over a minute and somehow bravely clung on – even throwing some hammerfists in the process – to see out the remainder of round one.

Oleinik was visibly tired going into the second round, shaking out his arms to try and rid himself of the lactic acid hindering his movements.

Sensing this, Greene threw caution to the wind and landed a number of big strikes and at volume. A nice leg kick was quickly followed by a glancing head kick. A big uppercut thrown in retreat was followed by a crunching knee up top.

But the Russian was able to secure a takedown 80 seconds into the second round, landing in half guard and instantly looking to sneak his right arm under Greene’s head for a potential Ezekiel choke.

Greene’s offensive defence saw him attempt another kimura, but Oleinik easily shucked this off to take mount once again.

Oleinik attempted a classic Russian-style belly-down armbar made famous by Fedor Emelianenko and it paid dividends. Greene once again defended valiantly, but this time it wasn’t enough as he was forced to tap with 22 seconds left of the second round.

Big, hard-fought win for Oleinik who will be buoyed from such a performance following two crushing knockout losses in a row.

 

Brian Kelleher grabs first-round guillotine choke win against Ode Osbourne

Brian Kelleher snapped his two-fight losing skid with a comprehensive submission win over UFC debutant Ode Osbourne.

Osbourne’s speed looked troubling for Kelleher right off the bat, catching “Boom” on the chin in one exchange.

New Yorker Kelleher wisely sought after the takedown, achieving just that with a slam.

Jamaica-born Osbourne even looked dangerous with his back to the canvas, looking to strike with Kelleher from bottom.

But it was this over-zealous approach to his guard which cost him dearly.

Rushing to advance position, Osbourne sat up and Kelleher was there in a near-instant to grab an arm-in guillotine choke. Osbourne, while defending the submission, managed to get on top of his foe, but the choke was still in and deep.

Osbourne was soon tapping out to the choke with his foot.

Big win for Kelleher as he looks to once again advance in the UFC’s bantamweight division.

 

Carlos Diego Ferreira earns second-round submission win over Anthony Pettis

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1218738335046340613

Experienced Brazilian veteran Carlos Diego Ferreira kicked off the UFC 246 pay-per-view with a fairly dominant submission win over Anthony “Showtime” Pettis.

Ferreira’s gameplan was clear from the very get go, marching Pettis down with a consistent pressure to try and take the Milwaukee native down.

The third-degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt achieved just that in the first round on a couple of occasions but couldn’t quite establish his ground game well enough to keep Pettis down on the canvas.

That was a different story in the second stanza, however.

Starting where he had left off, Ferreira stalked Pettis before landing another takedown within the round’s first 20 seconds.

Ferreira took Pettis’ back on the ground but briefly lost position as the American scrambled to try and get back to his feet. But Ferreira’s homing missiles for arms snatched up Pettis’ neck as soon as it was available for a rear-naked choke-turned neck crank.

Pettis held on to try and defend, but eventually succumbed to Ferreira’s vice-like grip and tapped out at 1:46 of round two.

Ferreira moves to six wins in a row and this one is by far the biggest of his career so far.

 

Fighter interviews on the night

Carlos Diego Ferreira

 

Brian Kelleher

 

Roxanne Modafferi

https://twitter.com/FightersOnly/status/1218743801998540800

 

Sodiq Yusuff

 

Drew Dober

 

UFC 246: Conor McGregor vs. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone full results updated live

Welterweight: Conor McGregor def. Donald Cerrone by TKO (head kick and punches) at 0:40 of round one
Women’s Bantamweight: Holly Holm def. Raquel Pennington by unanimous decision after three rounds
Heavyweight: Aleksei Oleinik def. Maurice Greene by submission (armbar) at 4:38 of round two
Bantamweight: Brian Kelleher def. Ode Osbourne by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:49 of round one
Lightweight: Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Anthony Pettis by submission (neck crank) at 1:46 of round two
Women’s Flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi def. Maycee Barber by unanimous decisions after three rounds
Featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff def. Andre Fili  by unanimous decision after three rounds
Flyweight: Askar Askarov def. Tim Elliott by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Drew Dober def. Nasrat Haqparast by TKO (punches) at 1:10 of round one
Light Heavyweight: Aleksa Camur def. Justin Ledet by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Flyweight: Sabina Mazo def. JJ Aldrich by split decision after three rounds