Conor McGregor was crowned UFC Interim Featherweight Champion in Las Vegas.
The Dubliner faced his toughest test yet in the UFC but came through it to beat Chad Mendes by TKO with just three seconds of the second round left in the main event at UFC 189.
The Notorious was as calm as ever as he made his way to the Octagon to the sound of the Foggy Dew which was performed live by Sinead O’Connor in front of thousands of Irish fans at the MGM Grand.
Then Chad Mendes followed to the cage as we got ready to find out if McGregor could handle the challenge of an elite wrestler.
McGregor started well and was on the front foot striking well with his hands and a spinning back but Mendes drew first blood and cut McGregor in the first round.
As expected the American used his wrestling to get on top of McGregor and ended the round strongly.
It was more of the same in the second with Mendes taking the fight to the ground but late in the round McGregor got up and took control with some powerful strikes.
Not for the first time it was the left hand that did the damage and referee Herb Dean called a stop to the fight with three seconds left of the second round.
McGregor was interim champion and sunk to his knees in front of a jubilant Irish crowd in Vegas.
The McGregor and Aldo fight which was originally due to take place this weekend would have been huge but it’s just got a whole lot bigger.
The two are set to go head to head for the undisputed title when the Brazilian recovers from a rib injury and it won't be long before they square off again.
