Thoughts & Shots: UFC 189

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Conor McGregor has been talking, and quite a few people have refused to listen. He made his boldest statement yet on Saturday by dispatching Chad Mendes just inside the bell of the second round to claim the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight belt; and in doing so, he sent the cadre of Irish fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas into a frothing frenzy.

It was not an easy victory, no matter what the brash Dubliner might say. He was on the business end of more than a few Mendes elbows and had all kinds of trouble staying upright, as he was taken to the mat seemingly at will by a rapidly tiring opponent. With that said, it was an amazingly crafted win because he made the most of the one real chance he had and dotted Mendes with a long, precise left hand that splashed his American foe face first to the canvas. He then dealt a few more punches for good measure before referee Herb Dean intervened.

I have to say I’m not a big fan of Dean’s hair trigger on the stoppage. In title fights, one would hope the official would give the fighters a chance to decide things on their own. I couldn’t help but wonder if Dean would have allowed Robbie Lawler to author his surprising comeback just one fight earlier.

I have to concede it is hard to envision an avenue to a Mendes victory after he was blitzed like that and he was clearly deteriorating from a cardio standpoint, but I still would rather see a fighter decide the outcome of such a high-stakes match. Honestly, I’m not sure the definitive ending wouldn’t have come in the three seconds that would have ensued before the second round concluded. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

Back to the positive, and there is so much of it to talk about with McGregor. The kid has taken the sport by storm, with many North American fans and media being unwillingly dragged along kicking and screaming. He has said and done some pretty outlandish things and then gone out and backed up every one of them. He has always had that “it” factor, but now there is no denying the substance is there.

That is not to say he is a complete product. I’m sure McGregor and his team will have plenty to look back at and learn from when they take a look at the tape of the Mendes fight, and I’m sure they will address the issues they feel need to be addressed before he gets his chance to settle the score with the featherweight champion and pound-for-pound mainstay Jose Aldo.

In a fight that will likely be the biggest promotional event in the history of mixed martial arts, the UFC, according to multiple sources, could do upwards of $50 million in business for the much anticipated showdown. I know McGregor isn’t too keen to talk about Aldo after his late withdrawal from UFC 189, but those projections provide a whole lot of motivation to get back in the gym and prepare for his most heated rival -- especially for a man who has been crystal clear that money and the luxuries that come with it are huge driving forces in his career.

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BREAKING RORY: Trailing on all three cards by identical 39-37 scores, UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler stomped off his stool to the center of the Octagon and solidified his place among the elite MMA fighters with a blistering left hand that sent Rory MacDonald stumbling to the mat holding his already broken nose, thus ending one of the more spectacular fights in UFC history. The rejuvenated Lawler has been on a tear since returning to the promotion and has amassed quite the highlight reel, but his disfigurement of MacDonald should be firmly planted atop the heap.

After a close opening round that went to his opponent on each of the scorecards, Lawler got busy in the second and battered his opponent’s nose, inserting a chicane of sorts. It looked like he was closing in on a finish midway through the next frame, until MacDonald landed a right kick to the head that was partially blocked. Despite catching a piece of the kick, Lawler stumbled backwards and absorbed an unrelenting barrage of punches and kicks that threatened to snatch away his shiny UFC belt. He somehow managed to survive the round and another early salvo in the fourth before getting his bearings back.

The tide began to turn as round four came to a close. If anyone wondered where the champion’s mind was at, they were alerted as the bell sounded. A defiant Lawler cleared his nose of blood and snot and whatever else was in there while glaring at a non-retreating MacDonald. The two were finally sent to their corners to prepare for the final frame but not before recharging the already hyped crowd.

The coffin nail was hammered in just a minute into the fifth round of an epic war of attrition. Lawler was jubilant in victory, even though his upper lip was lacerated in a gruesome manner. MacDonald was badly hurt, and, as we found out from UFC President Dana White at the post-fight presser, he couldn’t even tell the medical staff what year it was when asked.

One has to wonder what a fight like that does to an athlete. Both Lawler and MacDonald absorbed an inordinate amount of punishment and should take their time getting back in the cage. That was a fight that takes years off your career in some cases, and I hope both guys realized their bodies are going to need some time before they put them through anything close to that again.

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MAIN CARD THOUGHTS: Jeremy Stephens overcame a head butt and nasty cut to finish Dennis Bermudez via flying knee early in the third round of their back-and-forth bout. Bermudez continued to utilize a striking-heavy strategy throughout the fight despite Stephens getting the better of the exchanges more and more as the fight wore on. Stephens -- who missed weight by three and a half pounds -- melted Bermudez with a thunderous flying knee just 42 seconds into the final round to notch his first victory in three fights ... Gunnar Nelson stepped back into the win column with a stunning finish of Brandon Thatch. The Icelandic ground wizard blasted Thatch standing midway through the first period and methodically took him apart on the mat, finishing with a rear naked-choke to re-establish himself in the welterweight division. It was a nice performance coming off a tough loss to Rick Story his last time out ... Brad Pickett looked like he was ready to turn the clock back a couple years after taking it to Thomas Almeida early in the opening frame of their bantamweight scrap. Pickett dropped the young Brazilian twice and bloodied his nose with crisp strikes. Almeida started to mount his comeback with a knockdown of his own later in the first and then forwarded the clock hands to midnight, ending the Englishman’s night with a walk-off flying knee in the second stanza. While Almeida remains a viable prospect at 135 pounds, there are all kinds of questions about Pickett and where he goes from here. He made the return to bantamweight after an unsuccessful run at 125 and now has dropped three in a row and four out of five. A pink slip in his locker is a real possibility at this point. Always one of the good guys and a true fighter in every sense of the word, one can only hope Pickett lands on his feet.

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UNDERCARD SHOTS: Matt Brown is going to have a few extra greenbacks to stuff in his “Bad Motherf-----” wallet after his first-round submission win over fellow brawler Tim Means to close out the undercard. The hard-as-nails Brown fought in typical fashion, walking down Means and landing big shots until he grabbed an opportunistic guillotine to end the night and put an end to a two-fight losing streak. He also reaffirmed he is not only one of the toughest S.O.B.s in the sport but one of the most entertaining to watch ... “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 alumnus Mike Swick returned to the Octagon for the first time in more than two and a half years against Alex Garcia, and things surely did not go as he had planned. The former perennial top-10 fighter looked like a shadow of his former self en route to a one-sided decision loss ... Judge whisperer Cathal Pendred ran into a motivated John Howard and a couple judges who could see through his sorcery, finally dropping his first UFC bout in five outings. The split decision had everyone on pins and needles for a moment, but the rightful victor was declared. Judge Tony Weeks was the offending party with an unfathomable 29-28 card for Pendred, but judges Adalaide Byrd (round one) and Marcos Rosales (round three) both scored rounds for Pendred that stretch credulity ... UFC bantamweight prospect Cody Garbrandt got off to a slow start in his undercard bout with a game Henry Briones but turned it on late to cement a unanimous decision win. The highly regarded Team Alpha Male product ran his record to 7-0 and continued his push up the 135-pound ladder. He also did his part in forwarding him and his girl, Paige VanZant, as the next MMA power couple.

Greg Savage is the executive editor of Sherdog.com and can be reached via email or on Twitter @TheSavageTruth.