5 Years Ago Today, Conor McGregor Shocked The World And Knocked Out Jose Aldo In 13 Seconds
I gotta confess something here - this is one of the first times in my life where an anniversary has snuck up on me and hit me quite like this one being FIVE YEARS AGO today! Not to say it "made me feel old" or anything, because that'd be stupid (I'm 12), but it definitely made me stop in my tracks and think, "Shit, time is flyin by, isn't it?!"
I was a senior in high school when Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo at UFC 194, putting an end to his decade-long undefeated streak and run at the top. I remember it like it was yesterday. I'd been playfully talking shit to some of my friends who were Brazilian Aldo supporters for almost a year (literally since McGregor demolished Dennis Siver and got in the champ's face the prior January), and I was nervous as hell for the fight.
Much like now - how I feel like a piece of my reputation/content hangs in the balance with each and every McGregor fight - I kinda felt that on a smaller scale in my high school. I was "THE" Conor McGregor fan there, and if he went out there and got beaten and "exposed" or something, how could I show face on Monday?! Especially after all the trash I talked?! I had a lot riding on this.
Only one of the people in my friend group was rooting for McGregor alongside me - my buddy Julian.
After the walkouts were over, and juuuuust as the main event started, I received about 5 or 6 texts in the span of 1-2 seconds from Julian. They read:
NO
NOOOO
NOOOOOO
OMG NO WAY
NOOOOOOOOO
OH MY GOD ROBBIE
In the split second it took for my PPV feed (which, at the time, I purchased through YouTube - highly prone to buffers) to catch up to Julian's, my heart dropped.
I thought, "There's no way the fight is over, so McGregor must've been taken down IMMEDIATELY. FUCK!"
This was clearly his biggest weakness, as shown by the Chad Mendes fight at UFC 189, and everyone was curious to see how long it would take for Jose Aldo to try to shoot on him in this one.
Then, I looked up at my television, and there it was; a short left hook by McGregor that made him the unified UFC Featherweight Champion. Aldo dropped like a ton of bricks, McGregor landed some hammerfists, and Big John threw him off to call the fight.
I was shocked beyond belief. Julian's "NOOOOOO" texts weren't outta disappointment - just pure astonishment at what he had just witnessed.
I felt the same way. I think I actually punched the (low) ceiling in my basement when jumping up and down celebrating, which woke my mom up. Just couldn't fooking believe it. Still can't, really.
Certainly felt good strollin into homeroom like this on Monday….
Easily one of the most insane moments in the history of the sport. Excited for the king to provide us with another one on January 23rd.
P.S. We got fights tonight! Ridin with the champ in the main, Ferguson in the co-main, and our guy Billy Q of course….