We Still Don't Know if Conor McGregor is 'Back' Yet, So Chill Out

One does not sleepwalk his way through Donald Cerrone. Not even a former two-division UFC champion. Yes, Cowboy was dusted by the highly violent Justin Gaethje in one round his last time out and labored through a spirited but ultimately wayward doctor stoppage against bloodtastic bloodletter Tony Ferguson three months earlier. It is known. But if Conor McGregor had prepared for Saturday's big UFC return against Cerrone the way he did for his disastrous title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov -- boozing, mental and emotional turbulence, regional pro wrestling levels of misplaced bravado -- he would have run the sincere risk of defeat.

Of course, the Notorious did beat Cowboy. A few minutes faster than Gaethje did, in fact, with the help of some out-of-nowhere lunging shoulder strikes that arrested the attention of wonks and casuals alike. But just because he took care of business against a fearless 36-year-old glasseater who laughs in the face of death itself does not mean Conor McGregor is all the way "back."

It just means he isn't stick-a-fork-in-him done.

Michael Bisping, who had his fair share of doubters before finally breaking through in the UFC middleweight division later in his career, mostly has this correct. If McGregor even let things go to the scorecards with any shred of doubt (much less actually lost), he comes out of this thing with naught but a pyrrhic victory. The single biggest draw in mixed martial arts needed a resounding performance just to get back on his feet and into the title contender conversation, and he's done that.

But he hasn't done more than that. Conor vs. Cowboy merely opened a door. He'll only have a chance to walk through it come his next fight, whether against Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz or Gaethje or the one-man Waterloo known as Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Sometimes, an appetizer is as memorable as the main course. I shouldn't have to explain tapas to you, right? But as thrilling as it was to see McGregor doing McGregor things again after spending most of the last three years relegating his reputation to "Star Wars" prequel territory, the most telling work hasn't really begun.

Hype is fun. There's a certain joy to losing yourself in its delirium. But with the intoxication of Saturday's facepunching nightcap having worn off, let's be sober about how much Conor McGregor still has to prove before we can hand him the keys to the UFC penthouse again.