Mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre has given his prediction for the highly-anticipated welterweight clash between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone.
The two fan-favourites will headline the promotion’s first pay-per-view event in 2020 as they slug it out at UFC 246 in Las Vegas, Nevada later this month.
Both fighters are coming off a loss at 155 pounds, with Cerrone suffering a first-round technical knockout against Justin Gaethje while McGregor was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov at the historic UFC 229.
‘Cowboy’ will appear on his 51st professional MMA fight and holds the record for the most wins, most finishes, and most post-fight bonuses in the UFC history.
‘The Notorious,’ meanwhile, is looking to punch his way back to title-contention as he sets his sights on a rematch with the Russian champion.
Safe to say, McGregor and Cerrone will bring out the big guns when they collide at UFC 246.
And for St-Pierre, this exciting fight can go either way.
Crucial Ground Game
Speaking at Tristar Gym’s YouTube Channel, the French-Canadian legend said if the fight goes the distance, there are high chances Cerrone will walk away with the win.
St-Pierre also added the ground game will make a big difference for the UFC veteran.
“If it’s a quick fight it’s going to be McGregor. If it’s a long fight it’s going to be Cerrone,” GSP said, (transcript from BJPenn.com).
“[It] depends if Cerrone comes and tries to grapple because he has a very good ground game, his ground game is very underrated.”
“I’ve trained with him before, he has good takedown. He is very explosive to shoot the takedown.”
“People don’t know that because he doesn’t use it much. He used it against Patrick Cote.”
“If he does that, to weather the first couple minutes of the storm and McGregor’s powerful left hand, I think he can get it.”
Sniper
Continuing, St-Pierre said a finish is also possible for the Irishman if his speed and trademark left hand come to play.
“I think if he wrestles in round one he has a good chance to win. But, if he tries to play a boxing and karate game with McGregor, McGregor will knock him out.”
“It’s hard. The odds are more towards McGregor. Cerrone can pull this off too,”
“It’s at 170, [it’s] Cerrone [advantage] I think. McGregor looks big. I don’t know enough about McGregor. But, from what I’ve seen is he is like a sniper.”
“When you fight a sniper, you need to move, you need change levels, you need change angles, change [the] distance and I don’t know if Cerrone will do that.”
“He is known to be a slow starter as usual, so if he doesn’t start right away hard with the speed he is going to get caught.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Donald Cerrone, Georges St-Pierre, and Conor McGregor)