Saturday, July 11
MGM Grand Garden Arena | Las Vegas
UFC 189 “Mendes vs. McGregor” had a little bit of everything, from grizzled veterans and blue-chip prospects to a “Fight of the Year” frontrunner that stole the show.
In the main event, Conor McGregor stopped Chad Mendes with second-round punches to capture the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight crown before a raucous pro-Irish crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Mendes, who accepted the bout as a short-notice replacement for injured champion Jose Aldo, wilted 4:57 into round two.
McGregor dealt with his first significant adversity since arriving in the UFC. Mendes secured four takedowns, opened a cut near his right eye with a slashing elbow and piled on the punishment with ground-and-pound from inside guard. McGregor bided his time, and Mendes made a tactical error late in the second round, as he surrendered top position while fishing for a guillotine choke. McGregor escaped to his feet, uncorked a series of accurate punches, dropped the fatigued Team Alpha Male standout with a straight left and polished off his 14th consecutive victory with unanswered rights to a turtled Mendes.
An absolute showstopper preceded it. In the co-headliner, Robbie Lawler retained the UFC welterweight championship with a fifth-round technical knockout against Rory MacDonald. Lawler closed out the Canadian 60 seconds into round five, bringing a decisive conclusion to an instant classic.
MacDonald forced the American Top Team standout to rally to keep his title. He withstood a ghoulish onslaught from Lawler in the second round, the “Ruthless” champion leaving his face mangled with a seemingly endless volley of punches down the pike. Straight lefts followed digging jabs, as Lawler slammed one fist after another into his face.
Tristar Gym’s MacDonald shifted the momentum in a blink, as he wrapped a head kick around his opponent’s defenses. Lawler staggered and absorbed a barrage of punches, standing elbows and knees from the challenger but refused to wilt. Round four provided more of the same from the two welterweights, who stood and traded. MacDonald seemed to get the better of the exchanges, especially early in the frame. However, the damage to his face left him vulnerable.
Less than a minute into the fifth round, Lawler sent a straight left crashing directly into MacDonald’s nose. He crumbled to his back in visible distress, and Lawler finished him with follow-up punches.
Other highlights at UFC 189 included Thomas Almeida’s spectacular flying knee knockout on Brad Pickett, Gunnar Nelson’s rear-naked choke submission against Brandon Thatch, Jeremy Stephens’ jumping knee finish at the expense of Dennis Bermudez and Matt Brown’s guillotine choke stoppage on Tim Means.
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