The UFC brought the curtain down on its 2019 pay-per-view calendar on Saturday night with a fight of the year contender as Kamaru Usman successfully defended his welterweight championship against Colby Covington in the main event of UFC 245 in Las Vegas.
No sooner had the dust settled on that fight card than fan attention turned to the company's next PPV offering, featuring the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC 246 on January 18, 2020.
McGregor (21-4) returns to the Octagon for the first time in over 15 months, following a fourth-round submission loss to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018.
Not only did that largely one-sided bout end in a humbling defeat for McGregor, but the event was marred by a post-fight brawl that saw disciplinary action taken against members of both men's camps.
During his absence from the sport, McGregor has also been the subject of much controversy in his personal life.
The 31-year-old will, however, be hoping to make headlines for all the right reasons when he faces Cerrone (36-13-1) in the five-round welterweight headliner of the UFC 246 card.
In beginning their promotional push for the event, the UFC has released a short hype video for McGregor's return. The approximately three-minute piece begins with long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan giving a blunt assessment of McGregor's performance in his most recent MMA outing.
"When we saw him fight Khabib he fell short...It's that simple. When skill versus skill, he fell short."
The video also reveals that Rogan had doubts over whether McGregor would ever fight again, prior to the announcement of the Cerrone fight.
Upon debuting with the UFC in April of 2013, McGregor enjoyed a meteoric rise to become one of the top stars in the sport, racking up six consecutive victories, before dethroning Jose Aldo for the featherweight title in just 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015.
In the four years since that famous victory, McGregor has compiled a 2-2 MMA record - suffering a defeat to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, as well as the aforementioned loss to Nurmagomedov. In between those two setbacks, McGregor was also stopped by Floyd Mayweather in August 2017 - in what proved to be a lopsided, if lucrative, boxing match.
Judging by his comments in the video, McGregor seems keen to move past the events of recent years and return to the form of his early days with the UFC.
"This sport is my life...This is what gave me this life. I must not go down this path. The cliche of the fighter that has it all but leaves it all behind in ruins. I must get my head screwed on and just get back in the game...Fight for redemption, retribution, respect...That is what is will do!"
McGregor certainly faces no easy task in the form of Cerrone. The 36-year-old American holds the record for the most wins in UFC history and will be looking for a career defining win when the pair meet at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC president Dana White has also recently weighed in on the stakes attached to the non-title bout, stating that if McGregor is successful in defeating Cerrone, then he will be afforded the opportunity to avenge his defeat to Nurmagomedov in a rematch for the lightweight title.
For his part, McGregor shows no shortage of confidence, rounding out the video by defiantly predicting a successful comeback.
"I know what I can do...I've done it before when it was doubted and I'll do it again. There's so many stories in this...Mine is gonna be the greatest one of all."
The road to UFC 246 has officially begun - and fans will be anticipating the build up almost as much as the fight itself.