UFC 246
1-16-20
From Las Vegas, NV
Early Prelims available on UFC Fight Pass
Prelims available on ESPN
Main Card available on ESPN+ ppv
By Dylan Hager
The UFC is back! For the first time in 2020, the octagon will be set up for UFC 246. What a main event we have in store with Conor McGregor making his return to fighting against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Eleven fights are scheduled, and violence is guaranteed. Lets get to some picks!
Conor McGregor (21-4) (4, 13 P4P) vs Donald Cerrone (36-13 (1)) (5)
What a main event to start off 2020! Conor McGregor, the former two division champion, makes his return in a fight against the living legend, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. This is Conor's first fight since losing to Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018. He'll be locked in the cage with the man who holds the records for most wins and most finishes in UFC history. What a fight!
Conor comes into this fight only 2-2 in his last four, but what a four fight stretch that was. He lost to Nate Diaz in March of 2016, and he got that win back in August 2016. McGregor won the Lightweight Title from Eddie Alvarez in November 2016, but he did not fight again until the Khabib lost at UFC 229. Conor comes into this fight with 18 career KO wins, and no doubt he'll be looking for number 19 on Saturday night.
Cowboy may be the "B side" in this fight, but he is as live an underdog as there has ever been in the UFC. He comes in with 50 professional fights. He's 3-2 in his last five, but the two losses were in his last two fights against Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje respectively. Cowboy is crazy well rounded, coming in with 10 KO wins and 17 submission wins. McGregor might be drawing the eyes for this fight, but Cowboy is not about to just accept defeat.
Everybody who knows anything MMA has said the same thing about this fight: If this fight ends early, Conor will win, but if Cowboy can drag this out over the full five rounds, he has a much better shot at winning. Now that doesn't mean Conor couldn't win a decision, or that Cowboy couldn't score a quick KO or submission win. Conor is a quick starter. He is quick and powerful in the early rounds, but he does seem to fade as the fight goes on. Conor is a bit of a slow starter, but he can turn it on late in the fight. Just look at Cowboy's last three fights. He took "Raging" Al all five rounds in May, and he seemed to only get better as the fight went on. However, the doctors stopped the fight with Tony after just two rounds, and Justin finished him in the first round. If Conor can keep this fight standing and land with power early, I like Conor to pick up the win in the second round. If this fight goes to the ground at all, Cowboy could definitely grab the submission win. If this fight goes the distance, I like Cowboy to get the win. The fan in me wants Cowboy to get the win in a statement making fashion, but this really feels like a Conor comeback story. I like Conor early. Prediction: Conor McGregor 2nd Round TKO
Holly Holm (12-5) (3) vs Raquel Pennington (10-7) (5)
Rematch time in the Women's Bantamweight Division. Holm defeated Pennington by split decision in Holly's UFC debut in February 2015. Of course, Holly made her name by defeating Ronda Rousey for the Bantamweight Title in November 2015, but she is only 2-5 since defeating Rousey. Now, all five losses have been to the elite of Women's MMA including Cyborg and Miesha Tate. Her last fight was a KO loss to Amanda Nunes in July 2019.
Raquel is 5-2 since losing to Holly in their first fight. "Rocky" went on a run following the Holm loss, winning four straight including a win over Miesha Tate at UFC 205. She lost a title fight to Nunes in May 2018 and followed that with a loss to GDR the following November. Pennington did get a win in her last fight against Irene Aldana last July, and a win over Holly could put her right back in title contention.
Both of these fighters have a strong striking game, and both have drastically improved since their first fight. Holly was a professional boxer before making the move to MMA. She has great footwork and great kicks, but I think I would give the power advantage to Pennington. Both fighters have showed some success up against the cage, but I see this being much more of a striking battle than a grappling contest. Both fighters have suffered title losses somewhat recently, but with the lack of names in this division, a win could put either fighter in a title fight or #1 contender fight in their next time out. A lot at stake in this co-main spot, I like Holly to edge out a close win. Prediction: Holly Holm Decision
Aleksei Oleinik (57-13-1) (12) vs Maurice Greene (8-3)
Interesting fight between two heavyweights on the opposite ends of their respective careers. Aleksei Oleinik has 71 career professional fights. That is just crazy! Maurice Green "only" has 11 career fights. Oleinik is 2-2 in his last four fights. He choked out Junior Albini and Mark Hunt before being KO'd in the first round by Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris. Greene is 3-1 in his last four, with wins over Michel Batista, Jeff Hughes, and Junior Albini. He was KO'd by Sergie Pavlovich in the first round last October.
Oleinik does not have a striking game, but he has an elite submission game. Greene has four submission wins, but his submission game is nowhere near Oleinik's, who has 45 career submission wins. Simply put, if Greene keeps his distance from Oleinik, he will win the fight. If Oleinik gets a hold of Greene, Oleinik will grab the submission win. I like Oleinik in this one. Prediction: Aleksei Oleinik 1st Round Submission
Anthony Pettis (22-9) (11) vs Carlos Diego Ferreira (16-2)
Showtime is back at 155! Anthony Pettis returns to Lightweight following two fights at Welterweight. He will be met by up-and-coming prospect Carlos Diego Ferreira. Pettis 2-2 in his last four Lightweight fights, and 3-3 in his last six overall. His last fight was a loss to Nate Diaz at 170 in July. Ferreira is riding a five fight win streak. His last loss was to Dustin Poirier in April 2015. Last time out, Ferreira won a decision over Mairbek Taisumov in September 2019.
Ferreira's best chance at winning is to take this fight to the ground. Pettis will have the striking advantage, and he is no joke on the ground. Ferreira might have a slight advantage on the ground. Pettis has only one submission loss on his record. If Ferreira can grind out the majority of the fight on the ground, he can pull of the decision win. However, I don't think Pettis is going to let that happen. Pettis has been in the octagon with some of the best fighters in the UFC. CDF is no easy fight, but I think Showtime gets back in the win column. Prediction: Anthony Pettis 3rd Round TKO
A Women's Strawweight fight between Claudia Gadelha and Alexa Grasso was originally scheduled for the ppv card, but it was canceled when Grasso missed weight. The UFC will probably move a prelim fight onto the main card, but as of publication time, they had yet to do so. Quick picks for the preliminary portion of the event.
Roxanne Modafferi (23-16) (7) vs Maycee Barber (8-0) (9) Prediction: Maycee Barber
Andre Fili (20-6) vs Sodiq Yusuff (10-1) Prediction: Andre Fili
Tim Elliot (15-9-1) (7) vs Askar Askarov (10-0-1) (12) Prediction: Askar Askarov
Drew Dober (21-9 (1)) vs Nasrat Haqparast (11-2) Prediction: Nasrat Haqparast
Aleksa Camur (5-0) vs Justin Ledet (9-2 (1) Prediction: Justin Ledet
Brian Kelleher (19-10) vs Ode Osbourne (8-2) Prediction: Brian Kelleher
Sabina Mazo (7-1) vs JJ Aldrich (8-3) Prediction: JJ Aldrich