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UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cowboy
Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor
21-5 · IRL
VS
Donald Cerrone
Donald Cerrone
36-13 · USA
January 18, 2020 · Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Welterweight · 5 rounds · Main event
170.0lb
Weigh-in
170.0lb
Conor McGregor def. Donald Cerrone by KO/TKO (Punches), R1 0:40
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1 · 0:40
McGregor19/260/010:13
Cerrone0/10/000:00
Total
McGregor19/260/010:13
Cerrone0/10/000:00

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
McGregorWin probabilityCerrone
75.6%24.4%
KO / TKO
73%
Submission
3%
Decision
24%
Expected fight time: 14.9 min
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward McGregor, blue toward Cerrone. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
McGregor76%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO60%80%
Submission1%1%
Decision15%19%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes128 (74167)act 19
Takedowns0.2 (0.00.6)act 0
Cerrone24%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO12%52%
Submission3%11%
Decision9%37%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes89 (51116)act 0
Takedowns0.2 (0.00.7)act 0
Combined totals~217 sig strikes~0.4 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R121%
R212%
R322%
R412%
R59%
Distance24%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikes
McGregor
66.5%-201
Cerrone
+20133.0%
Most takedownstie 73.7%
McGregor
12.9%+104
Cerrone
-10413.4%
Significant strikes — over/under
McGregor
Expected: 128.4
128.5
Over 128.5
42.4%
+136
Under 128.5
57.6%
-136
0161321
Cerrone
Expected: 89.1
89
Over 89
42.2%
+135
Exactly 89
0.8%
push
Under 89
57.1%
-135
0112223
Takedowns — over/under
McGregor
Expected: 0.2
0
Over 0
14.3%
Exactly 0
85.7%
push
Under 0
0.0%
035
Cerrone
Expected: 0.2
0
Over 0
14.8%
Exactly 0
85.2%
push
Under 0
0.0%
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 14.9 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
McGregor75.6%73.8%+1.8-305
Cerrone24.4%26.2%−1.8+275

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
68.4Striking63.2
McGregor +5.3
48.2Grappling51.3
Cerrone +3.1
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
McGregorCerrone
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1643
Pound-for-pound
1657
1531
Divisional
1573
Striking offense
Striking defense
1487
Grappling offense
1473
1514
Grappling defense
1605
Physical
31 yrs
Age
36 yrs
5'9"
Height
6'1"
74"
Reach
73"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
5.27
Strikes landed / min
4.87
49%
Strike accuracy
47%
4.43
Strikes absorbed / min
4.87
55%
Strike defense
52%
Grappling (UFC career)
0.75
Takedowns / 15 min
1.05
63%
Takedown accuracy
32%
70%
Takedown defense
89%
0.0
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.5
Form & résumé
82%
UFC win rate
70%
-1
Win/loss streak
-2
60%
Last-5 win rate
60%
78%
Finish rate
70%
Recent opp. quality
469
Days since last fight
126
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Conor McGregor
  • LKhabib NurmagomedovSUB R4
    Close +1651y 3mo before
  • WEddie AlvarezKO/TKO R2
    Close -1603y 2mo before
  • WNate DiazM-DEC R5
    Close -1353y 5mo before
  • LNate DiazSUB R2
    Close -4253y 10mo before
  • WJose AldoKO/TKO R1
    Close -1054y 1mo before
Donald Cerrone
  • LJustin GaethjeKO/TKO R1
    Close +1604mo before
  • LTony FergusonKO/TKO R2
    Close +1757mo before
  • WAl IaquintaU-DEC R5
    Close +1109mo before
  • WAlexander HernandezKO/TKO R2
    Close +1801y before
  • WMike PerrySUB R1
    Close +1701y 2mo before
McGregor — win / loss by method
Record: 21-5-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
18 wins, 1 loss
W
86% of wins
L
20% of losses
Submission
1 win, 4 losses
W
5% of wins
L
80% of losses
Decision
2 wins, 0 losses
W
10% of wins
L
0% of losses
UFC
9win2loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
7 (78%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
0 (0%)Submission(100%) 2
2 (22%)Decision(0%) 0
Non-UFC
12win3loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
11 (92%)KO/TKO(33%) 1
1 (8%)Submission(67%) 2
0 (0%)Decision(0%) 0
Cerrone — win / loss by method
Record: 36-13-0, 1 NC

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
10 wins, 6 losses
W
28% of wins
L
46% of losses
Submission
17 wins, 1 loss
W
47% of wins
L
8% of losses
Decision
9 wins, 6 losses
W
25% of wins
L
46% of losses
UFC
23win10loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
10 (43%)KO/TKO(60%) 6
6 (26%)Submission(0%) 0
7 (30%)Decision(40%) 4
Non-UFC
13win3loss0draw1NC
WinsLosses
0 (0%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
11 (85%)Submission(33%) 1
2 (15%)Decision(67%) 2

Profiles

Experience
McGregor
Cerrone
11
UFC fights
33
99.3 min · 9.0 avg
Octagon time
314.9 min · 9.5 avg
18y 5m
Career length
20y 6m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

McGregor
Cerrone
202W–51L · 79.8%
Overall
593W–159L · 78.9%
158W–41L · 79.4%
Wins
389W–107L · 78.4%
44W–10L · 81.5%
Losses
204W–52L · 79.7%
Non-UFC schedule strength
McGregor
Cerrone
72W–26L · 73.5%
Overall
128W–32L · 80.0%
61W–21L · 74.4%
Wins
93W–28L · 76.9%
11W–5L · 68.8%
Losses
35W–4L · 89.7%
Distance striking
McGregor
Cerrone
7.50
Landed / min
5.27
45.0%
Accuracy
44.7%
63.0%
Defense
54.1%
1.81
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.95
55.6%
Time at distance
77.2%
Grappling & control
McGregor
Cerrone
0.75
Takedowns / 15 min
1.05
62.5%
Takedown accuracy
32.4%
70.0%
Takedown defense
89.2%
0.00
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.52
32.5%
Control share
66.9%
Strike target map
McGregor
  • Head69%(364)div 63%
  • Body18%(92)div 20%
  • Legs13%(68)div 16%
Cerrone
  • Head51%(776)div 63%
  • Body24%(370)div 20%
  • Legs25%(389)div 16%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Conor McGregor
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Donald Cerrone
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.