UFC 246 burning questions: How bad does Conor McGregor need to win?

The UFC's 2020 calendar kicks off with a bang Saturday night, as the biggest star in mixed martial arts returns after a hiatus of more than a year.

Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor headlines UFC 246 in a welterweight fight against popular veteran Donald Cerrone. On paper, the pairing simply seems like a fun fight for the fans, but it comes at an important juncture in both fighters' careers. The result will also have a major impact on the UFC's business plans for the rest of the year.

And while a casual fan might skim the evening's lineup and think "one-fight card," the truth is, with a little digging, you'll find there are several matchups of major consequence to both their respective divisions and the career paths of the fighters involved.

UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ ESPN+.

Here are six burning questions heading into the card:

Can Conor McGregor still bring it in the cage?

Make no mistake about it: McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) still moves the needle. From the biggest mainstream sports shows to the comments section of MMA sites (where people complain "too much Conor" while still themselves reading every single McGregor story on any given MMA site), there has been more attention paid to the UFC this week than, well, the last time we saw McGregor fight 15 months ago.

So if people want to complain that the public is sick of McGregor, hate to break it to you: This week has shown otherwise.

But then, a significant part of the interest in this fight is based on a simple premise: Can McGregor still deliver the goods where it counts, in the cage?

We're more than three years removed from his last victory, his lightweight-title winning effort over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. Ask the Fedor Emelianenko of 2011 or the Chuck Liddell of 2009 just how much things can change in three years.

McGregor has been saying all the right things during UFC 246 fight week: He's cleaning up his act, he's never trained harder, he's putting his indiscretions in his past. The UFC is giving him the best opportunity he'll ever have to regain his fastball by putting him in with a fighter he should beat in Cerrone (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC).

If he does that, he'll once again be able to call his own shots. If not? Well, at some point, no matter how big you talk, you need to be able to back up your words.

How much does Donald Cerrone have left?

Cerrone deserves every compliment he’s been given for his work in the cage over the years: Fearless. Willing to fight anyone, any time, any where. Always giving everything he has when he steps into the cage, even when it’s not enough.

And yet, even a mixed martial artist who is the living embodiment of the phrase “mixed martial artist” is going to slow down eventually. And this is a fighter two months shy of his 37th birthday who is about compete in his 50th official MMA fight, which came after more than two dozen professional kickboxing bouts.

The last couple times out, Cerrone has looked like a fighter who isn’t done, by any means, but certainly one who might be losing a step. Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje demonstrated in back-to-back bouts that Cerrone’s not getting another title shot any time soon.

On the plus side? Cerrone’s been questioned like this before. And after he dropped four out of five from 2017-2018, he fired off three straight victories. Just like this fight is a litmus test for McGregor, so it is for Ceronne. Maybe he’ll make another similar doubter-disproving run.

Is Claudia Gadelha still a strawweight title contender?

Longtime observers of women’s MMA will recall Claudia Gadelha was going to be part of “The Ultimate Fighter 20,” which crowned the UFC’s first strawweight champion, but then opted out of the championship tournament.

With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps she missed her best opportunity to become UFC champion. Business picked up soon after Carla Esparza became first 115-pound champ, and the Brazilian competitor who seemed destined to claim gold never quite got there.

But while it feels like Gadelha (17-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) has been around forever, she’s still only 31. And she’s won two out of her past three fights, fending off Randa Markos last time out at UFC 239. With a victory over a fighter who is looking for a statement in Alexa Grasso (11-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC), Gadelha has the opportunity to announce she still belongs on the strawweight short list.

Will a return to lightweight be the answer for Anthony Pettis?

Even if former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is not quite the same fighter he once was, his presence on the card still guarantees excitement.

Check out his recent outings: Pettis’ wins over the likes of Michael Chiesa and Stephen Thompson were the types only canny veterans pull off. His losses to Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz were thrilling battles. Pettis clearly has something left to give.

His return to his lightweight wheelhouse after bouncing everywhere from featherweight to welterweight in recent years seems to indicate he’s getting serious and buckling down for one more big run. And, as is usually the case, Pettis (22-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) isn’t taking an easy fight. He’s being greeted by one of the more underrated competitors at 155 pounds in Diego Ferreira, who enters the bout on a five-fight winning streak. Those wins have come over tough guys without much name value, but now Ferreira (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is getting exactly the opponent he wants on the platform he’s been waiting for.

This fight seems win-win for the fans: Either a new contender is born, or “Showtime” is reborn. This should be a fun one.

How far off is Maycee Barber from a title shot?

Yeah, I know. Maycee Barber is still only 21 years old. And heading the pack at 125 pounds is one ruthless killer of a fighter in Valentina Shevchenko.

But then you look at Barber’s resume, and you see a competitor who has starched just about everyone placed in front of her. That includes all four of her UFC fights, all of which have been won via TKO, most recently the Roufusport competitor’s first-round finish of Gillian Robertson at UFC Boston in October.

On one hand, you don’t want to rush a legitimate prospect into a title shot. We saw how doing so set Francis Ngannou’s career back for a while. On the other, if Barber, who has the confidence to say she wants to become the youngest champion in UFC history, runs through a wily veteran such as Roxanne Modaffieri (23-16 MMA, 2-4 UFC) the same way she did her previous foes, given the lack of depth at 125 pounds, where else are you going to place her?

Will Sodiq Yusuff reach the next level, or will Andre Fili finally get there?

Everything about Sodiq Yusuff screams “star in the making.” From his performances in the cage to his pedigree at one of the sport’s hottest camps in Fortis MMA to an undeniable charisma, we could be just a couple years away from the 26-year-old Nigerian star competing for a featherweight championship.

One thing Yusuff (10-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) doesn’t have yet, though, is a victory over the sort of opponent that signals to fans he’s ready to start facing top-ranked competition. But he has just such an opportunity on Saturday night when me meets Team Alpha Male’s Andre Fili.

Fili (20-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) has been a mainstay at 145, someone who is known for being in exciting fights, win or lose. But here’s the thing: Before you label Fili a gatekeeper, he’s won four of his past five, including a “Performance of the Night”-winning knockout of Sheymon Moraes last time out.

So for both of the these fighters, the bout represents their chance to make a statement they’ve moved up another level. Between that and their blend of exciting styles, this fight has “show stealer” written all over it.