Conor McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, believes the former featherweight and lightweight champion is in ideal form entering his UFC 246 clash with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

Kavanagh took to Twitter on Wednesday to talk up his fighter, who has not competed in over a year:

McGregor announced his retirement from the UFC in March, but few thought it would stick, and his return was made official in November.

The 31-year-old Irishman owns a career record of 21-4, but his most recent fight at UFC 229 in October 2018 was a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov by fourth-round submission. Prior to that, McGregor hadn't fought since UFC 205 in November 2016 because he chose to focus on boxing.

Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Cerrone has long been one of the most active fighters in UFC history.

Cerrone has fought five times since McGregor's last bout, including four times in 2019 alone. Cerrone also owns a solid career record of 36-13 with one no contest, but success has eluded him lately.

After winning three straight fights against Mike Perry, Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta, Cerrone lost to Tony Ferguson at UFC 238 in June and Justin Gaethje at UFC Fight Night 158 in September.

Cerrone is a dangerous fighter since he is willing to go for broke to win, but given his recent slide, he may prove to be the perfect tune-up for McGregor on Jan. 18, especially if Kavanagh is right in his assessment.