VIDEO | Watch Conor McGregor smash pads at the UFC Performance Institute

Conor McGregor is just 8 days out from his return to the Octagon, which will pit him against fan favorite finisher Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The pair will meet in a welterweight bout in the main event of UFC 246 in Las Vegas on January 18.

While McGregor completed the majority of his training camp at the famed SBG Ireland gym in his native Dublin, he’s since relocated to Las Vegas to make his final preparations.

In a video posted to Instagram, McGregor gave fans a sneak peak of his last preparations for the fight, specifically a pad session with coach Owen Roddy inside the UFC’s state of the art Performance Institute.

He definitely looks sharp! See McGregor in action below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ICoo9piGm/

Conor McGregor has not fought since October of 2018, when he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in a bid to reclaim the UFC lightweight title. His next most recent fight before that was a blockbuster boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., while his second most recent MMA fight occurred all the way back in 2016, when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to claim the lightweight belt. Because he still held the UFC featherweight belt at the time, this made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously. He’s 21-4 in MMA competition.

Cerrone, on the other hand, will step into the cage with McGregor riding a pair of stoppage losses to top lightweight contenders Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson. Prior to that, he rattled off back-to-back wins over lightweight contenders Al Iaquinta and Alexander Hernandez. Cerrone holds the UFC records for most wins and most finishes. He’s 36-13 overall.

How do you think McGregor will look in his anticipated return to action agains Cerrone? Do you think the Irishman will return to winning ways?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/10/2020.