Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor delivered the goods last weekend at UFC 246 when he steamrolled legendary veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via TKO just 40 seconds into the very first round.
Given the fact that this was McGregor’s first fight in over 15 months and just his third career bout at 170 pounds, the results were quite shocking, even for the biggest of “Notorious” fans. That’s because Cerrone is one of the most battled-tested fighters in MMA today and possessed certain skills that McGregor did not. But with McGregor’s quick explosion out of the gate Cerrone was left with little to work with. He locked up and McGregor pounced on top for one of the easiest and most dominant wins of his career.
As a result of his main event finish, McGregor was awarded one of five Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 246. The Irish superstar did have $3 million in guaranteed salary to fall back on — as well as his self-proclaimed $80 million payday — but it was nice to see the extra cash flowing.
McGregor, who remained in Vegas after his return win at UFC 246, ended up collecting his $50,000 bonus during a recent dinner with UFC president Dana White and former company CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. The three men were there to discuss business and likely the next move for McGregor, but that didn’t stop White from busting out cold hard cash and gifting it to the UFC’s biggest star.
Check out the photos below posted by McGregor via Instagram:
“Happy National Irish coffee day everyone! Check out @properwhiskey for our recipe of this incredible drink. What a combination,” wrote McGregor.
The Mac Life later confirmed that the cash was in fact McGregor’s UFC 246 post-fight bonus.
While $50,000 isn’t nearly enough to get McGregor’s blood boiling these days the exchange of cash remains significant. It essentially marks the return of Conor McGregor, which means bigger business for UFC and ESPN moving forward.
For complete UFC 246 results and coverage click here.