McGregor landed a brutal left hand that landed flush on Aldo's jaw, sending the Brazilian crashing face-first into the canvas.
Remarkably, Aldo landed a left punch of his own as he was falling down, but McGregor barely looked affected and was quick to respond when he saw his opponent on the mat, landing hammer fists on a supine Aldo.
The referee moved immediately to put a stop to the contest, and McGregor leapt to the top of the Octagon in celebration, soaking the love of the Irish fans that filled up at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).
"Again, nobody can take that left hand shot," said McGregor, who became the interim champion after beating Chad Mendes in July at UFC 189. "I tell you, he's powerful and he's fast, but precision beats power, and timing beats speed, and that's what you saw out there."
It was Aldo's first loss in the UFC and only the second of his career; his last defeat was in November 2005. Prior to the setback, Aldo had been the only featherweight champion in UFC history, successfully defending the belt seven times.
He was knocked out cold by a punch that he did not see coming, however. It was the fastest title fight in the history of the UFC, and the first time in his career that Aldo had been knocked out.
"I feel for Jose, he was a phenomenal champion and he deserved to go a little bit longer," said McGregor, who has won 15 consecutive fights. "But I still feel, at the end of the day, that precision beats power and timing beats speed all the day of the week."
"It would have happened sooner or later," said the brash Irishman.
Aldo, bleeding from a cut on the bridge of his nose, said afterwards that he wants a rematch.
"He threw a cross at my chest, which was unexpected, then I threw a punch and he came back with another cross and that was that," Aldo said through a translator.
"I think that we need a rematch. That was really not a fight, so we need to get back in here," he said.
Aldo and McGregor were initially set to face off at UFC 189, but the Brazilian pulled out with just a few weeks to go due to an injury suffered in training camp. Mendes took his place and was knocked out by McGregor, setting up the title unification bout.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
