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News, Blog and Guides‘The Notorious’ made history in the UFC not only because of his unmatched trash talk but because of his brilliant performances in the octagon.
Fidel RubioUpdate: Feb 5th, 2023 13:09 EST
When speaking about mixed martial arts and the UFC, it’s almost impossible not to think about Conor McGregor.
The Irish fighter (22-6, 10-4 UFC) started building himself a legacy in the most important MMA promotion in the world by sharing his confidence ahead of his fights and selling them like no other fighter, and backing his talking with impressive performances and knockouts.
The last time McGregor competed was in his trilogy bout vs. Dustin Poirier, a clash that ended with a doctor stoppage loss to the American fighter in 2021, where he suffered a bad leg injury.
However, The Notorious, a former two-division champion, will be back into action after UFC president Dana White confirmed that the Dublin native will coach one team on The Ultimate Fighter 31. The other coach will be former Bellator champ and UFC title contender Michael Chandler.
A star in the making
The Irish fighter soon proved to be a power puncher when he first started his career in the fighting industry. Most of his victories before signing for the UFC came via knockout and the majority of them happened in the very first round against Irish and British opponents.
McGregor’s debut in the UFC couldn’t be any more spectacular: he only needed 1:07 minutes to knock Marcus Brimage out, which started to pave the way to stardom.
Later on, he kept proving his left hand was a killing weapon by knocking out his opponents, including a young Poirier, who back then struggled by managing the pressure of fighting a raising star in McGregor and his mind games before the fight.
Sep27.2014Conor McGregor delivers on his promise to finish Dustin Poirier in the 1st round,when he knocks him out within two minutes pic.twitter.com/ShZAv1vmCH
— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) September 27, 2020
McGregor’s top knockouts: Mendes and Aldo
However, two knockouts stand out during his career. One of them was against Chad Mendes for the Interim Featherweight belt, as the division champion, the Brazilian Jose Aldo, who was the one scheduled to fight McGregor, had suffered a rib fracture.
Although Mendes’ early aggressivity and the grappling game gave Conor trouble, the Irishman managed to get on his feet and successfully connect a big left hook to take Mendes out and become the interim champion.
But if McGregor mastered the game of trash talking combining it with precision and composure, that was in the much anticipated super fight with Aldo.
The Notorious was an underdog going into the Featherweight Championship unification bout in Rio de Janeiro against the Brazilian star, who was one of the best fighters in the history of the promotion.
