Former UFC Lightweight and Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor is one of the biggest legends of the world of MMA as well as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
One of the most controversial fighters in the world, McGregor has not had the best run of late, as he lost his last title bout to the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov, tapping out. He also lost his fight against Floyd 'Money' Mayweather, although he did far better than anyone could have expected from him.
However, Conor McGregor has also been one of the most dominant fighters for large parts of his Mixed Martial Arts career.
A characteristic of McGregor's fights is that in the leadup to the fight, there is a lot of smack talk between him and his opponent. The king of talking smack, 'The Notorious' Conor McGregor uses the talk to play mind games with his opponents before the fight even begins. His opponents have been forced to join him in the talk, going above and beyond by insulting him and his ability.
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However, when Conor McGregor has entered the Octagon, he has been all about action. In fact, sometimes, he has silenced his opponents in moments, backing up his smack talk, leaving them lying in the middle of the Octagon.
In this article, we will talk about three times that Conor McGregor shut up his opponents within moments.
#1 Dustin Poirier
Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier was the first really significant fight in McGregor's career. He faced Dustin Poirier as the first ever fighter ranked within the top ten in the UFC.
Poirier and McGregor's fight was highly anticipated, and when they entered the Octagon, Poirier even landed 10 significant strikes to McGregor's 9. However, it was the one left hook that shook Poirier from McGregor at 1 minute and 46 seconds of the 1st round that counted.
It left Poirier on the mat, and McGregor looking like he might actually go on to become the Featherweight Champion extremely soon.
#2 Eddie Alvarez
Another highly significant fight in his career, Conor McGregor went into this fight, looking to create history and become the 1st ever UFC fighter to hold the Championships of two divisions simultaneously.
Already holding the UFC Featherweight Champion, McGregor looked to add the Featherweight Title to his resume by taking on the then-Champion, Eddie Alvarez.
Alvarez did not take too kindly to his assumption that he would be able to move up to Lightweight and immediately become the Champion. and in the lead up to the fight, there was a lot of bad blood between the two fighters. As there is a trend of happening, the moment they entered the Octagon, things changed in the favor of McGregor.
After a dominant first round, McGregor silenced Alvarez in the second round at 3 minutes and 4 seconds, leaving him lying in the Octagon.
#3 Jose Aldo
Whatever else the fans expected when Conor McGregor faced Jose Aldo, what happened wasn't actually it.
The then-Interim UFC Featherweight Champion after having defeated Chad Mendes, McGregor was looking to unite the Featherweight Championship when he went head-to-head with the Featherweight Title holder and till then undefeated UFC Fighter, Jose Aldo.
There was actually a startling number of fans who felt that Jose Aldo might be the one to finally put a stop to McGregor's meteoric rise to the top of the UFC.
When they entered the Octagon, McGregor had already done a number on Aldo's psyche with a lot of smack talk in the lead up to the fight. He was inside Aldo's head, and within seconds of the fight starting, a combination and a left hand shot from him aimed at Aldo's head was all he needed to finish the fight.
Just like that, the fight was over in a matter of 13-seconds, not giving the other fighter time to even realize what had just happened to him. This remains the best example of McGregor shutting up his opponent in seconds, and this is what solidified his position as a legend in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.