Dana White has a backup plan for UFC 246, this if something were to happen to either Conor McGregor or Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
McGregor and Cerrone are set to collide in the headliner of next weekend’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.
The fight will mark the first time McGregor has competed inside of the Octagon in over a year. In his most recent effort at UFC 229 in October of 2018, the Irishman was submitted by bitter rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in a fight for the promotions lightweight title.
Conor McGregor will now head back to welterweight where he has gone 1-1 as a professional. Both of McGregor’s previous efforts at 170lbs took place in 2016 against fellow fan favorite Nate Diaz.
Meanwhile, Donald Cerrone will be returning to welterweight for the first time since November of 2018. That night in Denver, ‘Cowboy’ scored a submission victory over Mike Perry. Following his win over ‘Platinum’, Cerrone returned to the promotions lightweight division where he has since gone 2-2.
While it would be devastating for the promotion to lose either Conor McGregor or Donald Cerrone from next weekend’s UFC 246 event headliner, the UFC has experienced last minute tragedies in the past.
With that said, UFC President Dana White was recently asked in an interview if the promotion would consider using former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who is also slated to compete on the card, as a potential Plan B should something happen to one of the event headliners.
“We would likely turn to him, yeah.” White responded.
Anthony Pettis is scheduled to compete against Carlos Diego Ferreira on the main card of this weekend’s highly anticipated event.
‘Showtime’ already has a history with ‘Cowboy’, having defeated Cerrone via TKO with a nasty body kick at UFC on FOX 6 in January of 2013.
In addition, Anthony Pettis and Conor McGregor have both flirted with the idea of potentially fighting each other in past interviews.
Hopefully no problems will arise and the current UFC 246 main event between McGregor and Cerrone will stay intact.
What do you think of ‘Showtime’ Pettis being the “likely” Plan B should something happen to McGregor or Cerrone? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com January 4, 2020