UFC 246 Recap

Conor McGregor def. Donald Cerrone

It took all but 40 seconds for Conor McGregor to score the TKO victory in his long awaited comeback fight. Off of the bell, both fighters were quick to the center of the octagon where they met in a clinch after Cowboy ducked a punch from Conor. Conor threw some unique shoulder strikes that surprised Cowboy, broke his nose, and caused him to back out of the clinch. Seconds later, Conor landed a left high kick that stumbled Cowboy back. Conor swarmed Donald and hit him with a fury of strikes and secured the first round TKO victory - a prediction we made here at TABMMA. This marks Conor’s first win since gaining the Lightweight belt over Eddie Alvarez in 2016.

If you’re wondering “What’s next for Conor McGregor?” check out our piece discussing the most likely fights to be made after his spectacular finish at 246.

Holly Holm def. Raquel Pennington

In what seemed like a must win fight for Holly Holm, Holm secured the victory by way of decision. It seemed like this entire fight consisted of a grappling match against the cage. Raquel did secure a takedown but seemed like she did not want to commit to throwing much punches. Holm didn't inflict a lot of damage by way of strikes, but she did dominate Pennington as she pinned her in the clinch up against the cage for a majority of the fight. Holm landed more strikes and overall looked like the better fighter this night.

Alekei Oleinik def. Maurice Greene

Oleinik secured his 58th career win and 46th submission victory, proving he still has some gas left in the tank. Oleinik completely dominated Greene from a grappling aspect, landing three of three takedown attempts. Oleinik also threw up many submission attempts, nearly finishing the fight with his signature scarf hold. It seemed inevitable that Oleinik was eventually going to get the submission victory and he secured the win with an armbar at 4:38 in the second round.

Brian Kelleher def. Ode Osbourne

This fight was moved to the main card after the Claudia Gadelha and Alexa Glasso fight was canceled due to Glasso substantially missing weight. This was Ode’s first fight in the UFC against a more mature mma fighter in Brian Kelleher. Ode showed great spurts of athleticism and I believe he will have some pretty exciting fights in the future as he is still developing. Kelleher showed he was the more veteran and technical mma fighter landing 82% of his total strikes thrown and landing a takedown. 2:49 into the very first round, Kelleher made Osbourne submit from a deep guillotine choke.

Carlos Diego Ferriera def. Anthony Pettis

In a fight where it seemed Pettis could not get much offense going, Ferriera’s grappling took over. Ferriera landed three takedowns and seemed to find the back of Pettis pretty easily when on the ground. However, Pettis did show some good takedown defense, stuffing four of Ferriera’s attempts. 1:46 into the second round, Pettis was submitted via way of rear naked choke. The submission was mostly due to jaw pressure/neck crank rather than blood/air flow being cut off, as Ferreira’s arm was across Pettis’ jawline and not so much the throat/neck.