Conor McGregor revealed just how dangerous his infamous shoulder strikes are.
The Irishman’s last win inside the Octagon came at UFC 246 in January 2020. After failing to reclaim the lightweight championship against Russian rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor bounced back in a big way, securing a 40-second knockout of UFC Hall of Fame inductee Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
Mere seconds into the contest, the fighters clinched up in the center of the cage. Innovative as ever, Conor McGregor delivered a series of stiff shoulder strikes that tagged Cerrone with incredible force. A fan reminiscing about the unique maneuver received an unexpected response from McGregor himself who shed some light on the damage those blows did to his opponent.
“Listen to the sound of the breaks,” McGregor tweeted in response. “The first one breaks the nose, then the following two break the orbital socket.”
Cerrone’s quick defeat came in the middle of a six-fight losing streak that would eventually see the ‘Cowboy’ take off his 4oz gloves for the final time. Last month, the promotion announced that he would be the latest inductee to the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2023.
Will We See Conor McGregor Return to the Octagon in 2023?
Meanwhile, Conor McGregor is working towards a long-awaited return to the Octagon after dropping back-to-back bouts against Dustin Poirier in his last two appearances. Disaster struck in their July 2021 meeting when ‘The Notorious’ suffered a broken leg in the opening round. Fully recovered, McGregor recently completed filming for the 31st season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite high-octane lightweight ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler.
The two fighters are slated to scrap this fall once the latest season of TUF has completed its run on ESPN. Whether or not the fight actually happens this year remains to be seen as recent reports suggest Conor McGregor is yet to re-enter the USADA pool for a required six months of pre-fight testing.
Unless McGregor is able to secure some type of exemption, the earliest possible date for his highly anticipated return would be November.