UFC 246 post-event facts: Conor McGregor enters rarefied air with finish of Donald Cerrone

MMA News

UFC 246 post-event facts: Conor McGregor enters rarefied air with finish of Donald Cerrone

The UFC’s first event of 2020 went down Saturday with UFC 246, which took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and with a main card that aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.

In the main event, former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) made his glorious return to the octagon when he stopped Donald Cerrone (36-14 MMA, 23-11 UFC) by TKO just 40 seconds into the welterweight headliner. With the win, “The Notorious” achieved a knockout in his third different weight class.

For more on the numbers to come out of the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 40 post-event facts to come out of UFC 246.

* * * *

General

The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $165,000.

McGregor, Aleksei Oleinik, Brian Kelleher, Diego Ferreira and Drew Dober earned $50,000 UFC 246 fight-night bonuses.

UFC 246 marked the first event in company history with five “Performance of the Night” awards.

Debuting fighters went 1-1 on the card.

UFC 246 drew an announced attendance of 19,040 for a live gate of $11,089,129.30.

UFC 246’s live gate total was the fourth highest in company history.

Betting favorites went 6-4 on the card. One fight had even odds.

Total fight time for the 11-bout card was 1:51:03.

Main card

Conor McGregor

McGregor improved to 2-1 in welterweight competition.

McGregor has earned 19 of his 22 career victories by knockout. He’s earned 17 of those finishes in the first round.

McGregor has earned eight of his 10 UFC victories by stoppage.

McGregor became the second in UFC history to earn knockout victories in three different weight classes. Jared Cannonier also accomplished the feat.

Cerrone fell to 6-5 in UFC welterweight competition.

Holly Holm

Holly Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has earned four of her six UFC victories by decision.

Raquel Pennington (10-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has suffered six of her eight career losses by decision.

Oleinik (58-13-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) became the first in MMA history to earn victories in four different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s).

Oleinik has earned 54 of his 58 career victories by stoppage. That includes all seven of his UFC wins.

Oleinik has earned 46 of his 58 career victories by submission.

Oleinik’s six submission victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied with Stefan Struve for second most in divisional history behind Frank Mir (eight).

Maurice Greene (8-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Kelleher (20-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has earned 16 of his 20 career victories by stoppage.

Ode Osbourne (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by submission.

Diego Ferreira

Ferreira’s (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak in lightweight competition is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind Tony Ferguson (12) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (11).

Anthony Pettis (22-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC) was unsuccessful in his return to the lightweight division.

Pettis fell to 4-8 in his past 12 UFC appearance dating back to when he lost the UFC lightweight title in March 2015.

Pettis suffered the first true submission loss of his career.

Preliminary card

Roxanne Modafferi

Roxanne Modafferi (24-16 MMA, 3-4 UFC) improved to 9-5 since her initial UFC release in November 2013.

Modafferi has earned 15 of her 24 career victories by decision.

Modafferi has alternated wins and losses over her past seven fights.

Maycee Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) had her eight-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of her career.

Barber fell to 2-1 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in March.

Sodiq Yusuff’s (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak at featherweight is tied for the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Arnold Allen (six), Zabit Magomedsharipov (six) and Alexander Volkanovski (six).

Askar Askarov (11-0-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.

Tim Elliott (15-10-1 MMA, 4-8 UFC) fell to 2-4 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in December 2016.

Elliott has suffered five of his eight UFC losses by decision.

Elliott’s 39 takedowns landed in UFC flyweight competition are third most in divisional history behind Demetrious Johnson (58) and Wilson Reis (44).

Nasrat Haqparast (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.on.

Aleksa Camur (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.

Justin Ledet’s (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since September 2017.

Ledet fell to 0-3 since he dropped to the UFC light-heavyweight division in July 2018.

Sabina Mazo (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of her UFC victories by decision.

J.J. Aldrich (8-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) fell to 1-2 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in March 2019.

Aldrich has suffered two of her three UFC losses by decision.

UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.

UFC 246 post-event facts: Conor McGregor enters rarefied air with finish of Donald Cerrone