Conor McGregor came to Madison Square Garden looking to make history and become the first simultaneous two-division champion in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and that is exactly what he did.
Courtesy of a knockout of Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 in New York City Saturday night, McGregor added the UFC lightweight championship to his resume, going along with the featherweight title he won last December.
“This is what I dreamed into realty,” McGregor said when hoisting both belts during his post-fight interview in The Octagon. “Oh, that looks good. Oh, oh, oh, that looks good. God bless!”
While taking a right-handed punch from Alvarez, McGregor fired off a powerful left hand that landed on the side of the defending champion’s face. McGregor followed it up with a right hand to Alvarez’s jaw, a left to the ear and another right that eventually floored his opponent.
Once Alvarez was on the mat, McGregor landed two left-handed punches, and that forced referee “Big” John McCarthy to call a stop to the bout at the 1:52 mark of the second round.
McGregor landed 40 of his 93 strikes, 32 of which were significant, according to FightMetric. Conversely, Alvarez landed only 12 strikes. Also, he was unsuccessful in his three takedown attempts.
“They’re not on my level,” McGregor said. “You’ve got to have size, reach, length. You’ve got to have some attributes. If you come in anywhere equal to me, I’m going to rip your whole head off, and that’s it. I tell them every time.
“Eddie’s a solid competitor. Eddie’s a warrior, but he shouldn’t have been in here with me, and that’s just the truth of it.”
With the win over Alvarez, McGregor has now successfully fought in three weight classes over the last 11 months, posting a 3-1 record in four bouts at featherweight (145 pounds), welterweight (170) and lightweight (155).
He improved to 21-3 in his professional career, and has won nine of his 10 bouts in the UFC.
“I’ve spent a lot of time slaying everybody in the company,” McGregor said. “Backstage, I’m starting fights with everybody. I’ve ridiculed everyone on the roster, and I just want to say from the bottom of me heart, I’d like to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody. The double champ does what the (expletive) he wants.”
