Conor McGregor floored Chad Mendes with just three seconds left in the second round to be crowned interim featherweight champion at a memorable UFC 189 in Las Vegas overnight.
A brilliant right-left punch combination from the Dubliner sent Mendes to the canvas, proving to be the pivotal moment of an enthralling main event that saw the more-experienced Californian use his wrestling prowess to very good effect with some big takedowns and dominant grappling.
But the partisan Irish fans in the MGM Grand Garden Arena watched McGregor answer the ‘wrestler question’ in defiant fashion, as he launched a powerful left hand to Mendes’ chin that sent his opponent toppling and referee Herb Dean was quickly in to stop the fight.
An emotional McGregor celebrates after his win. Picture: AP
Speaking straight after the TKO win which takes his UFC record to 6-0, McGregor said: “I knew I’d outwork him. Everyone kept trying to say about the weight-cut. Don’t get me wrong, the weight-cut is tough but I can go all f***ing day. So I knew if he gets me down and we can go, I’ll talk to him and let him know, ‘I’m still here, this is nothing’.
“I knew my shots were landing every time. I hurt him many times to the body, and then the precision with the left hand. Nobody can take that left hand shot, it’s as simple as that – everybody breaks and he broke.”
Fighting in place of injured champion Jose Aldo (who was ruled out with a bruised rib), Mendes looked mightily impressive in the first round, taking McGregor to the mat to force him on the defensive. He landed an elbow which left the Irishman bleeding above his right eye.
However, the SBG fighter knuckled down in the second round, breaking out of a three-minute hold to finally let his fists do the talking and come through the toughest test so far in his UFC career. McGregor’s punching accuracy was too much for a tiring Mendes who was caught out badly by that decisive combination.
After raising the interim belt with his family, coaches and training partners around him in the octagon, McGregor now has his sights set on a mouth-watering unification clash with Brazilian Aldo later this year.
Taking aim at his critics, the 26-year-old insisted: “I’ve been hearing all the time that I’m protected from this style of opponent, that I’ve been gifted a title shot. So my title shot (Aldo) went running and when they gave me the challenge I was supposed to be protected from, I knew I was going to prove to people that I’m a true fighter. It doesn’t matter who it is, I show up, I’m a professional, I come in here and I’m confident in my abilities.
“In my opinion, Jose went running. I had bigger injuries leading up to this fight than his bruised rib, and I still showed up here and performed. In my eyes, Jose’s gone running. If he wants to come back, he can come back. But I swear to God, his day will come.”
An emotional McGregor also gave a special mention to the fans who had travelled to support him in Las Vegas this week, as well as the people closest to him on this journey to becoming Ireland’s first UFC champion.
“I just want to thank my team, my family, everyone that’s come up with me. It’s a tight, tight circle, people since day one are here with me now. And the Irish people that support me…I swear to God, I’ve done this for us,” he added.
“I’m absolutely blown away by the support. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for everyone to support me and follow me. So much went on in the build-up to this, so much media obligation. I travelled twice around the world for this and done two takes – one in case it was Jose and one in case it as Chad. There were so many crazy, mixed emotions. So just to come in here and hear all the support, yesterday and today, I’m shaking with it.”
Meanwhile, there was disappointment for two Irish fighters in the Las Vegas prelims earlier in the night. Welterweight Cathal Pendred’s five-year undefeated MMA run came to an end with a split decision loss to John Howard, and fellow Dubliner Neil Seery was beaten by the up-and-coming Louis Smolka with the judges scoring their flyweight contest 30-27 across the board.