Conor McGregor knocks out Chad Mendes in 2nd round for interim title

— -- LAS VEGAS --  Chad Mendes actually made Conor McGregor bleed his own blood in an interim title fight at UFC 189 -- but he couldn't beat him.

McGregor (18-2), the brash 26-year-old Irish featherweight who has taken mixed martial arts by storm, knocked out Mendes at 4:57 of the second round to claim the interim championship Saturday night. The fight headlined UFC 189 before a sold-out, Irish-infused crowd of 16,019 inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The pay-per-view card, which at $7.2 million set a UFC record for live gate revenue in the United States, was supposed to feature McGregor (18-2) challenging seven-time defending champion Jose Aldo for the undisputed crown, but Aldo withdrew June 30 after suffering a rib injury in Rio de Janeiro. Aldo (25-1) has stated the injury is a broken rib, but he is expected to be healthy enough to return this year.

"In my opinion, Jose went running," McGregor said. "I had bigger injuries leading up to this fight than a bruised rib, and I still showed up and performed. In my eyes, Jose went running. If he wants to come back, he can come back -- but I swear to God, his day will come."

In the co-main event, Robbie Lawler (26-10) defended his 170-pound belt for the first time, knocking out Canadian challenger Rory MacDonald at the 1:00 mark of the fifth round.

The fight was easily the most difficult of McGregor's six in the UFC. A former two-time title challenger, Mendes (17-3) took McGregor down in each round and opened a cut over his right eye in the first. He caught McGregor flush on the chin with several counter left hooks and right hands, but McGregor's primary response to the shots was to nod and continue moving forward.

Late in the second round, after spending most of it defending himself from his back, McGregor caught Mendes with several straight left hands and a kick to the body. Mendes toppled over near the fence, where McGregor stood over him and threw left hands until referee Herb Dean stepped in.

"I have been hearing all the time that I've been protected to this point and gifted a title shot," McGregor said. "So, when my title shot went running and I was given a shot at what I was supposedly being protected from, I was going to prove that I'm a true fighter."

Some wondered whether McGregor's confidence would slightly diminish, having to switch from a lanky standup fighter in Aldo to a short, compact wrestler in Mendes. If anything, McGregor appeared overconfident in the fight.

At the start, McGregor threw a spinning back kick in the amount of time it took for him to sprint across the cage. He followed that with a leaping knee, which Mendes sidestepped and turned into a takedown. McGregor managed to work back to his feet quickly and went on taunting Mendes.

After jumping to an early 10-9 lead on the scorecards in the first, Mendes capitalized on another takedown in the opening moments of the second round. McGregor struggled to get back to his feet and, at times, didn't even appear interested in doing so. He batted Mendes' ears with palm strikes and threw elbows to the top of his head. At one point, he looked up at the referee, pleading for a standup.

With one minute left in a round he was clearly winning, Mendes made a crucial error. He transitioned to a guillotine choke, but lost position and allowed McGregor to get back to his feet. From that moment on, it seemed like everything landed for the Irishman, as he took advantage of his eight-inch reach advantage and pounded Mendes with left hands from a distance.

Despite the fact there were less than three seconds remaining in the round at the time of the stoppage, Mendes didn't protest the fight being stopped.

"I'll have to see it, I have no idea," said Mendes, when asked if the stoppage was premature. "I remember getting back to my feet and my feet were planted. That was the mistake I made and Conor was able to stand in front of me and tee off. I don't know how fast the stoppage was. If Herb thought it was done, than it was done. He's the one that makes the decision, not me."

UFC president Dana White declined to answer specifically whether UFC 189 would eclipse 1 million pay-per-view buys, but spoke on the overall magnitude of the event.

"I've been telling you guys all week this thing was trending bigger than anything we've ever done tonight," White said. "Tonight, on social media, crushed any fight we've ever done. It was a massive event and everybody delivered."

On Friday, White said if McGregor defeated Mendes, a title unification bout would most likely land in Las Vegas. McGregor is now 6-0 in the UFC and has finished his past four opponents via knockout.

"We told Conor if he fought and beat Jose Aldo, we would let him defend in Croke Park in Ireland," White said. "When he and Jose Aldo fight (while Aldo is still the champion) it will be here in Las Vegas."

Aldo, 28, is also undefeated in the UFC and unbeaten since November 2005. ESPN.com ranks Aldo the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

"We've been in contact with [Jose Aldo] and he's chomping at the bit," UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said. "He wants to fight, obviously, as soon as possible. We've got to take a step back, regroup, get in the office on Monday and figure out the right date.

"We need sufficient time to promote the event like we did last time. Conor was just in a tough fight. He won at the end of the second round, but he took some big shots. Probably, I'm thinking, January 2 -- but that's not set in stone. We have a date at the MGM on January 2."

McGregor's manager, Audie Attar, also hopes to see the Aldo-McGregor matchup as soon as possible. 

"Obviously, we would have preferred it to be tonight, but injuries happen," Attar said. "It's part of the sport. I would love to see it happen before the end of the year, in December, or if not, in January at some point.

"That makes sense in terms of giving Aldo time to recover and it gives him a full training camp so there's not excuses. We want to win and have it undisputed -- no excuses."