Maybe the most anticipated UFC fight of the year, Conor McGregor vs Jose Aldo, and it ended in 13 seconds. McGregor knocked Aldo out before some of the people who paid for the fight on PPV had a chance to sit down in their chairs. Memes were having a field day with those.
McGregor unified the UFC Featherweight Championship belt, like he always said he would. He promised he’d finish Aldo quickly, and he did. He actually got hit by a falling Aldo in the head, but it didn’t stop him from smashing Aldo a couple of times before the fight stopped, and he had time to run and celebrate while everyone were still trying to digest what has just happened.
And while fans paying a lot of money for a fight getting felt shortchanged by a 13-second fight is never good for the business model, Dana White has to be happy. McGregor, like Rousey for a few minutes, is the face of the division, and might the biggest name in the UFC right now, or at least we’ll find out when the PPV numbers come in. He’s young, exciting, arrogant, violent and doesn’t shut up. Just what you need when you’re trying to sell fights.
Aldo hasn’t fought in over a year before this fight. For McGregor, it was the third fight of 2015, and his fifth consecutive one by knockout. You can’t really say anything about fighters from 13 seconds of what might have been a lucky punch that landed, but for now, McGregor has every right in the world to brag and talk about the next person he’s going to beat up.