KEY POINTS

  • Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone will fight at welterweight division
  • UFC 246 will be McGregor’s first fight since his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018
  • The UFC event will be held in T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, NV

Being regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time, you cannot question the credibility of the input that he will be giving for the upcoming UFC event.

A few days away from the UFC 246, Conor McGregor will be making his UFC return as he faces Donald Cerrone for a welterweight match at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, NV and UFC legend Georges St-Pierre shared his prediction on how both fighters would fare against each other.

In an interview posted on the YouTube channel of Tristar Gym, the Canadian mixed martial artist had a clear view of how the fight would end – and he is all about the tempo of the fight that will dictate the result. “If it’s a quick fight it’s going to be McGregor,” said the two-division UFC champion. “If it’s a long fight it’s going to be Cerrone.”

On who will go home as the victor, St-Pierre can’t give a concrete answer, reiterating that the two have a chance to win the fight on their own disciplines.

GSP emphasized the grappling style of “Cowboy” Cerrone, calling his ground game is underrated. “I’ve trained with him before, he has good takedown. He is very explosive to shoot the takedown,” said the former UFC champion who used to train with the 36-year old Cerrone in Albuquerque, NM per MMA Mania reports.

“He used it against Patrick Cote. If he does that, to weather the first couple minutes of the storm and McGregor’s powerful left hand, I think he can get it,” added the Canadian legend. Cerrone beat Cote via third-round TKO as he took the fight to the ground.

He, however, thinks that Cerrone won’t be able to cope with the striking game of McGregor. “If he tries to play a boxing and karate game with McGregor, McGregor will knock him out. It’s hard.”

McGregor’s made a living with his boxing, with the KO victory against Jose Aldo in UFC 194 as the most memorable example of his striking expertise.

“When you fight a sniper, you need to move, you need change levels, you need change angles”, added St-Pierre. “He (Cerrone) is known to be a slow starter as usual, so if he doesn’t start right away hard with the speed he is going to get caught.”

Georges St-Pierre
Georges St-Pierre became just the fourth UFC fighter to win a title in two different weight classes. In this picture, St-Pierre of Canada celebrates his victory over Michael Bisping of England in their UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 217 event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Nov. 4, 2017. Mike Stobe/Getty Images