Conor McGregor exploded back to the Octagon after quite a year faraway from the UFC with a 40-second knockout of Donald Cerrone within the main event of UFC 246. Fans of Irish superstar couldn't have asked for a more impressive performance from McGregor. But what does McGregor's victory mean within the bigger picture? And where does "Cowboy" follow his third consecutive TKO loss?

Let's take a glance at the answers to those questions and more as we reflect back on the UFC's first event of 2020 and therefore the return of the sport's biggest superstar.

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McGregor, fighting just like the Conor of old, secures endless options for 2020: the truth is, Conor McGregor will headline cards until he decides to truly hang up the gloves. He's a longtime global superstar beyond anyone else within the UFC, and albeit he'd lost to Cerrone, he'd still get to call almost any shot for his next fight. However, by securing not only a win, but a 40-second knockout of the fighter with the foremost wins in UFC history, McGregor has seemingly all options on the table.

It would be easy to seem at the way the fight played out and think there was nothing learned about who McGregor is after quite a year out of action. But he fought exactly just like the McGregor UFC fans have seen in numerous of his fights. He was looking to explode with every strike from the opening bell and each shot was thrown with the intention of doing serious damage. That has been a detriment in his worst moments -- resulting in lingering questions on his cardio -- and a positive in his best. The fighter fans saw at UFC 246 is McGregor at his core. he's an all-time great fighter who has only seen the third round 3 times in 26 fights due to this overwhelmingly aggressive approach to his fights.