Top 5: Conor McGregor Knockouts

Critics can approach Conor McGregor however they please, but few martial artists have matched excessive hype with such an exquisite performance.

The flamboyant Irishman quieted his detractors and set the MMA world ablaze with one swing of his powerful left hand when he unified the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight crown with a shocking knockout of the great Jose Aldo a mere 13 seconds into their UFC 194 headliner on Dec. 12, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Nearly a decade later, it remains the fastest finish in a championship fight in UFC history.

Aldo leaned into the pocket with a straight right-left hook combination, only to be met with a counter left hook from the SBG Ireland superstar. That was the end of it. The Nova Uniao cornerstone nosedived to the canvas in a defenseless state and absorbed two subsequent hammerfists to the face before referee John McCarthy could rescue him from further damage and embarrassment. The defeat ended Aldo’s historic reign atop the featherweight division at 1,848 days.

It still ranks as one of the most memorable knockouts of McGregor’s illustrious career. Here are four more to consider:

Conor McGregor vs. Marcus Brimage
UFC on Fuel TV 9
April 6, 2013 | Stockholm

The fact that it took place on an undercard in Sweden seems almost unfathomable today. McGregor dazzled in his promotional debut at Ericsson Globe Arena, where he wiped out “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14 quarterfinalist with a volley of uppercuts and follow-up punches in the first round of their featherweight prelim. Brimage met his end just 67 seconds into Round 1. Operating in the shadows of the Gegard Mousasi-Ilir Latifi main event, McGregor, then 24, got down to business in a hurry. He wobbled Brimage with an uppercut, then floored him with two more. A torrent of thunderous blows fell next, leaving referee Robert Sundel no choice but to intervene on the Colorado Springs native’s behalf.

Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
UFC 178
Sept. 27, 2014 | Las Vegas

McGregor established himself as a legitimate contender at 145 pounds when he took out “The Diamond” with a straight left hand and follow-up punches in the first round of their featherweight showcase at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Poirier, who had never before been finished by strikes, checked out 1:46 into Round 1. McGregor backed up the American Top Team standout with a series of spinning attacks, stood him up with a clean right to the face and picked his spots from there. A straight left to the side of the ducking Poirier’s head dropped him to all fours and left him vulnerable to subsequent blows. Hammerfists and jackhammer lefts forced referee Herb Dean to act.

Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez
UFC 205
Nov. 12, 2016 | New York

McGregor became the first competitor in Ultimate Fighting Championship history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously when he stopped “The Underground King” on second-round punches to capture the lightweight crown in the UFC 205 headliner at Madison Square Garden. Alvarez succumbed to blows 3:04 into Round 2, giving his counterpart possession of championship gold at 145 and 155 pounds. Once he was forced to stand with McGregor, the Philadelphia native was doomed. The John Kavanagh protégé kept Alvarez on the end of his surgical punches, floored him twice inside the first five minutes and established his superiority with breathtaking ease. A little more than midway through the second round, McGregor cut loose with a blistering four-punch combination that sent the onetime Bellator MMA linchpin crashing to the canvas and led referee John McCarthy to call off the encounter.

Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone
UFC 246
Jan. 18, 2020 | Las Vegas

McGregor brought down “Cowboy” with a head kick and follow-up punches less than a minute into the first round of their main event at T-Mobile Arena. In his first appearance since being submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, the Irishman drew the curtain 40 seconds into Round 1. McGregor looked like a finely tuned machine despite the 15-month layoff. He damaged Cerrone with a series of surprisingly stout shoulder strikes from the clinch, then staggered him with a head kick once the two men separated. A volley of punches drove the BMF Ranch founder to the mat, where his situation only deteriorated. McGregor was relentless and continued to drop punches until the aforementioned Dean had seen enough.