The UFC 189 fight card was stacked, but it was all about the Irish sensation Conor McGregor tonight. Throughout the entire build up for UFC 189, McGregor talked the talk, and tonight, he finally walked the walk.
It took McGregor two rounds of total excitement to finish the all-American Chad Mendes, and he pulled it off fairly effortlessly. However, Mendes’ wrestling and ground-and-pound did manage to slow down the Irishman for a few moments, but McGregor’s striking was the biggest threat in the title fight. After being held down and nearly put into a choke hold by Mendes in the second round, McGregor managed to slip out of it and get back up. On his feet, McGregor put Mendes to work with precision combinations, which dropped Mendes at 4:27 in round two. It was sweet!
McGregor is now the interim UFC featherweight champion.
As for the co-main event, Lawler vs. MacDonald 2 is arguably the best title defense fight in the history of the UFC. It was a five-round brawl between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald. However, the Canadian wasn’t explosive enough tonight. MacDonald’s strongest round was the third. Lawler put MacDonald away in the fifth round with a punch, which might have shattered his nose. Lawler successfully defended the welterweight gold for the first time since defeating Johny Hendricks.
As for the rest of the UFC 189 results, continue reading below.
UFC 189 Results
Conor McGregor def. Chad Mendes TKO (punches) 24:57
Robbie Lawler (c) def. Rory MacDonald TKO (punches) 5 1:00
Jeremy Stephens def. Dennis Bermudez TKO (flying knee and punches) 3 0:32
Gunnar Nelson def. Brandon Thatch Submission (rear-naked choke) 1 2:54
Thomas Almeida def. Brad Pickett KO (flying knee) 2 0:29
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Matt Brown def. Tim Means Submission (guillotine choke) 1 4:44
Alex Garcia def. Mike Swick Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
John Howard def. Cathal Pendred Decision (split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) 3 5:00
Cody Garbrandt def. Henry Briones Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Louis Smolka def. Neil Seery Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
Cody Pfister def. Yosdenis Cedeno Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 3 5:00
Bonus Award
Fight of the Night: Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald
Performance of the Night: Gunnar Nelson and Thomas Almeida
