An Irish star was born in the Octagon last Saturday night, one the UFC desperately needs.
Known more for his mouth than his fists, Conor McGregor’s fighting caught up to his trash-talking at UFC 178 while earning the biggest win of his career with a knockout of Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas.
“He’s a legit force, bigger than I’ve ever seen,” UFC president Dana White said afterward. “Bigger than Brock Lesnar. Let’s just say we’re way over budget. The numbers, we attributed it to Conor.”
It took less than two minutes for the 26-year-old Irishman to put Poirier away with punches – a feat no other fighter had been able to accomplish.
In the months leading up to the fight, the quick-witted McGregor was a quote-able soundboard, bringing his Irish gallows humor to every interview. Coming in an underdog to Poirier, a formidable featherweight with a slick ground game and power in his strikes, the buzz around McGregor was palpable.
“There are some great contests on [UFC 178], but make no mistake about it — it’s the Conor McGregor show,” he told Fox Sports in the days leading into Saturday night’s PPV.
The Dublin native promised a first-round knock out, and delivered exactly that.
The UFC needs McGregor to shine as he has in all four of his UFC bouts. Before McGregor’s July 2014 fight against Diego Brando, there hadn’t been a UFC event in Ireland since 2009. There hasn’t been a name fighter from the Emerald Island to bolster that market for UFC.
The UK has Michael Bisping. Sweden has Alexander Gustafsson. Every Northern European country seems to have a star to call its own, a guy who can headline a home PPV card and deliver fireworks, maybe even win a belt.
All this is new for Irish MMA fans. McGregor is the reason the UFC went back to Dublin. Now, on the cusp of a featherweight title shot against Jose Aldo, an Irish UFC champion doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz returned to the Octagon after a three-year layoff, brutalizing Tayeka Mizugaki en route to a first-round TKO.
Cruz looked light on the feet in his return from tearing his ACL in 2011, which required numerous surgeries and forced him to vacate his title. His blistering one-minute finish of Mizugaki was a true return to form, earning the former champ “performance of the night” honors.