Conor McGregor defeated Jose Aldo for the featherweight title, while Luke Rockhold defeated Chris Weidman for the middleweather title in the co-main event.
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A record crowd which paid a record gate witnessed a record-setting knockout Saturday in the main event of UFC 194.
The 38-year-old former middleweight title challenger is quickly making a case for title contention in the welterweight ranks as well, having halted Neil Magny’s winning streak prior to his victory on Saturday. “I come to fight, and this fight will be a performance”.
Jose Aldo ruled the featherweight division for seven years.
‘It didn’t effect me at all, he said.
As his nose bled from the cut, Aldo said he wanted a rematch.
The fastest finish in title fight history.
“Nobody can take that left-hand shot”, McGregor said during his post-fight interview. Ryan Hall won the latest “Ultimate Fighter” season with an easy decision over Artem Lobov.
“Again, nobody can take that left hand shot”, said McGregor, who became the interim champion after beating Chad Mendes in July at UFC 189. McGregor has said for years that he is the greatest fighter in the world, and he proved himself with precision and power in the biggest fight of his career. “The victor of that [lightweight title bout], if Conor McGregor is moving to 155, gets Conor McGregor”.
Aldo was subjected to an onslaught of the colorful Irishman’s taunts for months before the fight. Every single movement I make will get an over reaction from him because he’s emotionally invested in it. The whole of Brazil is piling pressure on him.
McGregor is just the second ever 145-pound champion after Aldo won the company’s inaugural featherweight title when he joined the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization in 2011 following a dominant run as champion in World Extreme Cagefighting. He missed it and Rockhold took him down, setting up the attack. And the fighters talked smack in Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, New York City and Dublin, criss-crossing North America in separate private jets before heading to Europe to hype that fight. Holloway’s slicker striking gave him the edge over the course of the fight and an extended period in top control put Stephens on ice as Holloway cruised to a unanimous decision. But going into UFC 194 there were still a lot of people out there questioning if McGregor had what it takes to be the champ, particularly with such a formidable opponent across from him in the Octagon.
The fight of the night perhaps came thanks to Damian Maia and Gunnar Nelson.
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Montreal lightweight John (The Bull) Makdessi, returning after a broken jaw in a loss to Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone, lost a split decision to Yancy Medeiros on the undercard.
