It will be MMA’s two biggest stars on the cover of the EA Sports’ UFC 2 video game. Conor McGregor will join Ronda Rousey on the cover after he knocked out long-reigning champion Jose Aldo in a Rousey-like 13 seconds with a perfect counter strike before a deliriously happy crowd at the MGM Grand Garden. The colourful, trash-talking McGregor, who taunted Aldo for months and predicted he’d walk through everyone in the division, proved to be a man of his word.

He caught Aldo with a perfectly placed counter left hook that sent the Brazilian crashing to the mat. It wasn’t long before referee John McCarthy stopped it and the large Irish contingent erupted in song, toasting the new champion.

“He’s powerful and he’s fast, but precision beats power and timing beats speed,” McGregor said. “He deserved to go a little bit longer, but it was going to happen eventually.”

From the moment he arrived in the UFC in 2013, not long after getting off public assistance in his native Ireland, McGregor vowed he’d shoot to the top of the sport. His trash talking outraged many fans, who said he hadn’t fought anyone and didn’t like his many boasts.

But as the competition level increased, the results stayed the same. He knocked out Chad Mendes in the second round in July at UFC 189 after Aldo pulled out because of a rib injury. It was no contest on Saturday, as McGregor was too fast and too precise for Aldo.

Aldo hadn’t lost for 10 years, since losing a lightweight fight in Brazil in 2005, and he was widely regarded as the sport’s best fighter. But there is going to be a new entrant in that discussion.

“That’s all it takes, especially when you have my left hand,” the one-time apprentice plumber said. “No one can take my left hand.”

Aldo, who had been infuriated by McGregor’s antics during a summer media tour, said he hoped to meet the Irishman again.

“That was that,” Aldo said. “We need a rematch. That was not a fight, so we need to get in there again.”

Unlike what Aldo may think, it was a fight. One that sent thousands home wildly happy and stunned millions of viewers around the world. It’s just that after getting clocked like that, Aldo probably didn’t remember it.

UFC 194 EMBEDDED

For a behind-the-scenes full access inside the lives and training camps of four past and present champions preparing for their world title bouts at UFC 194, watch the latest episode of the UFC Embedded series. Featherweight champion Jose Aldo trains his sights on nasty rival and interim king Conor McGregor. And former Strikeforce titleholder Luke Rockhold focuses on his long-awaited UFC title shot against defending undefeated middleweight Chris Weidman.