Conor McGregor (21-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) made history at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night when he defeated Eddie Alvarez (28-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) by second round TKO to add the lightweight belt to his featherweight strap and become the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.
McGregor, who is the cover subject of the November issue of Muscle & Fitness, promised he would make easy work of Alvarez and was true to his word. The Irish fighter dropped Alvarez early in the first round and he went on to do it several times over the course of the first five minutes. Alvarez was hurt badly but made it through the round.
The tone of the fight did not change in the second. Every time that Alvarez attempted a take down, “The Notorious” easily fended him off and they went back to the striking game, which was bad news for the 155-pound champion from Philadelphia. McGregor dropped Alvarez one more time with a beautiful four-punch combination, and when he pounced and started raining blows on his opponent, referee Big John McCarthy stepped in and called a halt to the bout with 3:04 gone in the second.
“Where the f**k is my second belt,” roared the new lightweight champion from Dublin, referring the featherweight strap he brought into the fight. “I have only won this one and you are trying to take it off me already.” In the run up to the fight, UFC President Dana White said that if McGregor were to pick up the second title then he would have to vacate one. McGregor may not have read that same memo, and it will be intriguing to see what the 28-year-old decides to do next.
McGregor, who had arguments with Tyron Woodley and lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov during fight week sent a clear message to all fighters in the UFC, declaring: “I’ve ridiculed everybody on the roster, and I want to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody.” He is the king of the sport, and the king has spoken.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=P9X0Ge_4xT4
Speaking of Woodley, the welterweight champion and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson were involved in “the fight of the night” which ended up in a majority draw, even though the fight was incorrectly called a split decision win for Woodley by veteran announcer Bruce Buffer. Earlier in the night, strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk defended her title when she won a unanimous decision over Karolina Kowalkiewicz, though Kowalkiewicz put on a top-notch performance earning fans and respect.
