After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed yesterday that Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon to face Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246 on January 18.

While they haven’t had much in the way of trash talk for each other lately, McGregor and Cerrone haven’t always respected each other’s fighting abilities.

The pair’s beef began in 2015 when Cerrone and McGregor engaged in a verbal skirmish at a press conference.

Watch the video below (via Chamatkar Sandhu).

Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone have history… #UFC246 pic.twitter.com/ky9kT00wjT

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 28, 2019

It began when McGregor praised his own value as an opponent.

“It’s red pantie night when you sign to fight me,” he famously said. “Back when you get home with your wife. It’s a celebration!”

Despite their upcoming bout taking place at 170 pounds, McGregor was fighting in the featherweight division at the time. Cerrone, meanwhile, was fighting in the lightweight division. Cerrone was not impressed by the Irishman’s statement.

“Conor has no right coming up to 155,” he said. “There’s no way he’s not going to stand a chance. We’re too big for him, we’re too strong, so you can take you’re little English a** and get on.”

McGregor promptly fired back:

“You’re too slow and too stiff,” he said. “You’re as stiff as a board. I’d snap you in half and that’s it.”

“I see stiffness when I look in that 155 division,” McGregor added. “Slow, stiff, I feel like their stuck in the mud almost. The featherweights, they hit like flyweights so it’s nice down there just destroying them and killing that whole division.

“But I have my eye on that 155 division and I see them all stuck in the mud in there. So, we’ll see over time, but guess what? Have I been wrong yet? Have I been wrong yet? No!”

Cerrone then concluded by encouraging McGregor to focus on his looming featherweight title fight with Jose Aldo — which he ended up winning in 13 seconds.

“You have a monster right here at ’45, Aldo about to beat your a**. You’ve beat nobody, and you think you’re gonna come to 155 and make a statement? Come on man, sit the f*** down.”

Suffice it to say there is plenty of backstory for this Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone fight. Who do you think will win?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 11/29/2019.