Conor McGregor is unparalleled.

The 28-year-old Irishman secured his place in history Saturday evening, stopping Eddie Alvarez in Madison Square Garden to become the first mixed martial artist to simultaneously hold two UFC belts.

Headlining the first UFC event in New York since 1995, McGregor smoothly cut down the UFC lightweight champion as he promised he would, connecting precise left hands that felled Alvarez six times in less than two rounds. It was a superlative performance against one of the sport’s most accomplished competitors over the last 14 years.

“Eddie is a warrior but he shouldn’t be in there with me,” McGregor said. “I am a different level. Now, I celebrate as champion of two divisions.”

Any question over the outcome was essentially put to rest in the opening moments. McGregor may not have secured a first round victory as he predicted, but the seeds of his finish were planted early when the southpaw snapped Alvarez’s jaw. As he had always done, Alvarez hung tough, regrouped and remained in the fight, but from that point forward he seemed lost against McGregor’s economy of motion and easy-going offense.

As a matter of tactics, Alvarez made McGregor’s debut as a UFC lightweight fairly simple. He continually circled towards the Irishman’s power punch – arguably the best weapon in the sport – and began to overextend himself as he became increasingly desperate.

A lopsided opening round forced Alvarez to take chances in round two. McGregor taunted Alvarez by putting his hands behind his back and during their next exchange Alvarez was sat again. The end seemed inevitable, and soon enough McGregor plastered the 32-year-old Philadelphian, who won the title in July with a knockout of Rafael dos Anjos, with a four-punch sequence. Referee John McCarthy called a halt to the contest at 3:04 of Round two.

Rumbling for the fourth time in 11 months, McGregor looked his best at 155lbs. Having fought his last two contests against Nate Diaz at 170 after winning the title at 145 last December in 13 seconds over Brazilian great Jose Aldo, McGregor reiterated his expectation of success in any division he decided to show up.



“I’ve never dealt with anybody like this kid on so many different levels,” said UFC president Dana White, who noted that UFC 205 was on track to break the company’s pay-per-view record of 1.6 million buys set when McGregor bested Diaz at UFC 202 in August.

In front of a crowd of 20,427, Saturday night’s UFC at Madison Square Garden produced a gate of $17.7m. Not only did McGregor display his immense capability as a fighter, but he proved yet again that his appeal is second to none in the sport. The two-division champion said he intends to remain active, however with a child on the way in the first half of 2017 he expected the UFC, under new ownership to WME/IMG since August following a $4.2bn sale, to make it worth his while.

“They’ve got to come talk to me since the sale happened,” he said. “I’ve earned something. Who owns the company now? People have shares in the company. Conan O’Brien owns the company now. Where’s my shares. My equity? They’ve got to come talk to me now.

“I can keep going all day but I’m aware of my worth and I have a family, a kid on my way.”



After his picture perfect victory, McGregor screamed for two belts to pose with as he stood in the Octagon. He envisioned the day numerous times, he said, but he was put off that the UFC hadn’t the foresight to place two championship belts at the ready. To placate the understandably needy champion, the promotion asked their welterweight titleholder, Tyron Woodley, to borrow his.

In the co-main event Woodley retained following a majority draw with Stephen Thompson. The 34-year-old powerhouse from St Louis understood and obliged, as much of the MSG crowd had come to see McGregor.



McGregor joked afterwards that perhaps that was a sign of things to come if he decided to pursue a third title.

“I own the featherweight division,” McGregor said. “I’m about to dominate 155. I have no problem fighting at 170.”

Woodley welcomed the chance to fight “The Notorious” one if that’s what the Irishman desired.

“I’m a 100 percent positive he’s never been hit with shots I’d hit him with,” Woodley said. “I don’t think Conor understands the pressure I can put on him, the power I can put on him. I just don’t think it’s a good thing for him to fight me.”

The UFC seems more likely to rerun the match with Thompson, White said, as the fight of the night ended in a majority draw (47-47, 47-47, 48-47 for Woodley).

The defending champion started strong by battering the longer karate stylist on the canvas in the opening round. Over the next 20 minutes, however, Woodley (16-3-1) opted to stand and trade with Thompson in hopes that a lights-out KO would be all people remembered. He nearly secured the finish in Round 4, slamming two heavy right hands into Thompson’s face. “Wonderboy” showed grit by fighting on, and managed to escape a perilous guillotine choke attempt.

“I had some good moments,” Woodley said. “I could’ve pressed him more but I feel like the only significant damage done in that fight was by me. I should’ve created a little more distance when I rocked him so I could land more shots and end it. I went for the guillotine and feel like that was a bad decision. Even then, I thought that was close to a 10-8 round. I don’t agree with the draw. I thought I won but he’s a tough kid and it was a great fight.”

Thompson (13-1-1) explained that he was cautious of Woodley’s power, and it caused him to avoid engaging and closing distance.

“I thought that I did enough to finish out that last round and get the draw,” Thompson said. “Of course, I’d rather have the win but it is what it is. We both went out there and fought our hearts out. I hope we can do it again. Nothing else would interest me. I want the rematch. I don’t want anything but that rematch.”

Woodley lobbied for his next fight, regardless of the opponent, to take place in his hometown of St. Louis.

For the first time since UFC 33, when the promotion debuted in Las Vegas, three title fights were featured on the same card. Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (13-0) retained her title over fellow Polish fighter Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-1) via unanimous decision. The contest largely went Jedrzejczyk’s way, save Round 4 when the challenger landed a damaging right hand that briefly let her back into the fight. Otherwise she fell victim to Jedrzejczyk’s beautiful combination work, speed, and output.

“Polish girls are the toughest in the world,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Karolina was the toughest challenger for me.”



In non-title action Cuban Yoel Romero crushed New Yorker Chris Weidman with a jumping knee 24 seconds into the third round of what to that point had been a competitive contest. The devastating finish left Weidman in a bloody heap on the Octagon canvas, and secured a title shot against UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who watched from the MSG rafters as he worked the broadcast booth for Fox Sports coverage of UFC 205.

Weidman (13-2) sought single-leg takedowns over the first two rounds, and while he was close he never could quite finish. His last attempt led to his downfall, as Romero (13-1) met him head-on with a brutal knee to the forehead.

Watching from the Fox Sports announce desk, Bisping, a native of Manchester, flashed the 39-year-old “Soldier of God” a pair of middle fingers. Romero, wide-bodied and heavily muscled middleweight with no neck to speak of, was not amused.

“You say something like this for me?” Romero said gruffly. “I love you. See you soon, boy.”

Kicking off the pay-per-view portion of the card, Miesha Tate came out on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Raquel Pennington. The defeat prompted Tate, 30, to announce her retirement in the cage – a surprising move considering she was the 135lb champion as recently as July when she gave up the title to Amanda Nunes.



Tate (18-7) has generally relied on her durability over the course of her career, but she admittedly fell flat against Pennington (9-5), who varied her attack throughout the 15-minute contest as judges scored it 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28.