Conor McGregor blasts Cerrone in 40 seconds in UFC return
LAS VEGAS >> Conor McGregor stopped Donald Cerrone with a head kick and punches 40 seconds into the first round at UFC 246 on Saturday night, announcing his return to mixed martial arts with his first victory since 2016.
The Irish former two-division champion returned from a three-year stretch of inactivity and outside-the-cage troubles with a performance that echoed his greatest fights during his unparalleled rise.
McGregor (22-4) floored Cerrone (3614) only 20 seconds into the bout with a perfectly placed left kick to the head, and he mercilessly finished on the ground to the delight of a sellout crowd at T-Mobile Arena.
McGregor’s hand hadn’t been raised in victory since November 2016, when he stopped lightweight Eddie Alvarez to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two championship belts simultaneously. With his fame and fortune multiplying, McGregor fought only his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in 2017, and he lost a one-sided UFC bout to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in late 2018.
After a year of inactivity and trouble outside the cage, McGregor vowed to return to elite form in this bout against a fellow UFC veteran and stoppage specialist. This dramatic victory over Cerrone indicated he’s on his way, and McGregor has vowed to fight multiple times in 2020.
Cerrone is the winningest fighter in UFC history with 23 victories, a mark that reflects both his durability and commitment to an uncommonly busy schedule. Cerrone, who also holds the UFC record with 16 stoppage wins, had fought a whopping 11 times since McGregor’s win over Alvarez, and he was in the cage for the 15th time since he lost his only UFC title shot in December 2015.
But Cerrone’s last two fights were stopped when he took too much damage, and he couldn’t block McGregor’s decisive kick or recover from the punishment on the ground. race I’ve ever won. I hope to win Daytona in a few weeks but this is bad (expletive).”
Larson collected the coveted Golden Driller trophy and the 27-year-old, still smarting a bloodshot eye from a nasty crash in New Zealand last month, seemed in disbelief
“It’s taken me 13 years. That’s almost half my age,” Larson said. “I’ve been coming here for 13 years, and it feels better than I can imagine.”
Bell, who moves full-time in NASCAR this year to the Cup Series, was second and Cannon McIntosh was third.
Westwood wins in Abu Dhabi for his 25th Euro tour victory
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES >> Lee Westwood secured his 25th European Tour win with victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday.
Westwood, who had a one-shot overnight lead, has now won in four different decades starting in the 1990s. The Englishman’s 5-under par final-round 67 gave him a two-shot margin over a chasing pack of France’s Victor Perez (63) and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (63) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (67) who all finished on 271.
Bernd Wiesberger and second-round leader Francesco Laporta, who both started the final round one back of Westwood, had their challenge fall away after rounds of 72 and 74.
Top-ranked Brooks Koepka finished joint 34th with an 8-under 280 after a 69 in the final round, 11 back of Westwood.
It was Koepka’s first tournament since returning from a knee injury he aggravated in October when he slipped while walking off the tee at the CJ Cup in South Korea. He previously had stem cell treatment for a partially torn tendon in his patella.
Nos. 3-5 Duke, Auburn, Butler suffer Saturday upsets
NO. 1 GONZAGA 92, BYU 69 >> Killian Tillie had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 1 Gonzaga beat BYU 92-69 on Saturday night for its 12th consecutive win.
The Zags (20-1, 6-0 West Coast)