UFC 246 saw the return of Conor McGregor as he faced Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in a main-event fight in the welterweight division.

Despite losing in 46 seconds, as an opponent of McGregor, this would surely be a big pay-day for Cerrone, right? Well according to Cerrone this isn’t the case.

This comes after the 36-year-old laughed at claims that he had received a big paycheque supported by PPV buys.

On a recent Instagram post from Cerrone, one of his fans commented expressing that he was happy for the fighter, believing that he had gone home with a sum between 7–10 million dollars after UFC 246.

However, ‘Cowboy’ replied:

“Hahahahah 7-10 million. I didn't get PPV money. What the world thinks and what really happens is so different. I made flat money.”

This means that according to the salaries rumoured from UFC 246, Cerrone would’ve received $200,000 for the fight.

Had he defeated Conor McGregor he would’ve received a further $200,000, doubling his fee.

In comparison to this, McGregor received a flat rate of $3 million, meaning had Cerrone won, McGregor would’ve still walked away from the fight with over seven times the amount of money on a paycheque than Cerrone. 

The fight was insanely popular, as expected, which helped UFC 246 to bring in over a million PPV buys. McGregor’s comeback also helped UFC’s partner ‘ESPN+’ to gain an additional 500,000 subscribers.

McGregor has previously boasted about how stepping into the octagon with him will ensure a huge payday for his opponent.

The most ‘notorious’ moment of McGregor boasting this was during the build-up to his fight with Dos Anjos in 2015, which ended up being cancelled.

In a press conference, McGregor said: “ 'I can make you rich. I change your bum life, you ring back home, you ring your wife.

" 'Baby, we've done it. We're rich, baby. Conor McGregor made us rich, break out the red panties. We're rich, baby.' "

Unfortunately for Cerrone, this didn’t ring true.

Focus now switches to McGregor and who his next opponent will be, after such a successful comeback to the UFC.

It’s rumoured that UFC president Dana White has suggested that a rematch between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov is on the cards.

The previous fight between the two was stopped when Khabib won by submission in the fourth round back at UFC 229 in October 2018.

White suggested that McGregor will most likely face the winner of Khabib’s lightweight title defence against Tony Ferguson at April 249 in April.