Conor McGregor returning to face Donald Cerrone in UFC 246

Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Conor McGregor is making his return to Ultimate Fighting Championship, with a UFC 246 welterweight bout against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone set for Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.

UFC announced the fight Thursday.

The fight will be McGregor's first since his Oct. 6, 2018, loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor owns a 21-4-0 record in UFC and sits at No. 3 in the lightweight division. "The Notorious" has 18 wins by knockout.

Cerrone is 36-12-0 with 10 wins by knockout. "Cowboy" ranks No. 5 in the lightweight division. He beat Justin Gaethje with a first-round knockout Sep. 14 after losing to Tony Ferguson in June.

"Conor has signed and 'Cowboy' is ready to go," UFC president Dana White told ESPN.

McGregor hasn't won a UFC bout since taking down Eddie Alvarez in 2016. Cerrone owns the UFC record for most wins and finishes in history.

McGregor received a six-month suspension and announced his retirement following his loss to Nurmagomedov. He pleaded guilty to an assault charge in October, after a video surfaced showing him punching a man at a bar in Dublin, Ireland.

McGregor also was arrested in March in Miami in connection with a cellphone smashing incident, but those charges were dropped.

The New York Times reported in October that McGregor is under investigation for two sexual assault allegations. McGregor's publicist told the Times that the fighter "emphatically denied any report accusing him of sexual assault." His manager told ESPN the fighter "vehemently denies any allegation of sexual misconduct or wrongdoing."

He has not been charged in relation to the sexual assault allegations.

Cerrone teased the fight on Twitter, posting a photo of McGregor's Irish whiskey next to a bottle of Budweiser. The photo also included the matchup of "McGregor vs. Cerrone." McGregor has not yet referenced the fight on social media, but confirmed in October that he would make his return to the Octagon on Jan. 18.

"As far as the opponent, I have the opponent's name, but from the game I'm in and from experience, if I was to give you his name, which I would love to do, I know the UFC would flip it because they are a craft company," McGregor said at an October news conference.

"Ask the UFC who the opponent is because I do not give a [expletive] who the opponent is. I am going to go through the entire [UFC fighter] roster like a chainsaw through butter."

McGregor, 31, is listed at 5-foot-9 and weighs 155 pounds, according to his UFC profile. Cerrone, 36, stands at 6-foot-1 and also weighs in at 155 pounds. Their UFC 246 matchup will be at 170 pounds.

UFC 246 also includes fights between: Maycee Barber and Roxanne Modafferi, Drew Dober and Nasrat Haqparast, Grant Dawson and Chas Skelly, Maurice Greene and Aleksei Oleinik, Claudia Gadelha and Alexa Grasso, Andrew Fili and Sodiq Yusuff and Diego Ferreira and Anthony Pettis.