It may not have been the belt he set out to claim, but Conor McGregor is the UFC’s new Interim Featherweight Champion after knocking out Chad Mendes in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and he's thanked his travelling Irish support.
Thousands of Irish fans made the trip over to the states to witness the bout, in which McGregor struggled with the wrestling prowess of American Mendes.
However, despite eating up several elbows to the face when pinned to the canvas, the 26-year-old showed superb resilience to squirm free multiple times.
And when McGregor took the fight to Mendes with both men on their feet, the American could not deal with the Irishman’s heavy hands.
A straight left floored Mendes with just seconds remaining in the second round, and McGregor forced the referee to intervene following a series of unanswered punches.
There were just three seconds remaining in the round when the referee waved the fight off, and McGregor was uncharacteristically overwhelmed by his support.
He said: “To come in here and hear all this applause, it's just amazing. I truly appreciate it. I can’t say the words to express how grateful I am for the support of these fans.
"I’m overwhelmed by what’s happened. My mind is in a million different places.”
Watch McGregor's entire post-fight press conference below.
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