McGregor rallies to beat Mendes; Lawler finishes MacDonald in rematch

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, Conor McGregor proved his doubters wrong once again by becoming the interim featherweight champion by pulling off a late finish against the heavy-favored Chad Mendes in the main event of UFC 189 on Sunday, July 12 (July 11 in US) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The brash 26-year-old Irishman survived the toughest test of his prizefighting career and stopped Mendes with punishing blows with 3 seconds left in round two.

Mendes, who accepted the interim title fight as a short-notice replacement for injured champion Jose Aldo, secured 4 takedowns, opened a cut near McGregor’s right eye with a slashing elbow, and piled on the punishment with ground-and-pound from inside guard in the first round.

After spending most of the second period defending himself from his back, McGregor was able to return to his feet as Mendes surrendered the top position while fishing for a guillotine choke and then launched several straight left hands and a kick to the body.

Mendes collapsed near the fence, where McGregor stood over him and threw left hands until referee Herb Dean stepped in at 4:57 of the second round.

“Nobody can take that left hand shot. It’s as simple as that,” McGregor bragged in his post-fight interview.

With the come-from-behind victory over Mendes, McGregor (18-2) extends his winning streak to 14 bouts and solidifies his position as the mandatory challenger to Aldo’s gold-plated strap.

“In my opinion, Jose went running. I had bigger injuries leading up to this fight than a bruised rib and I still showed up and performed. In my eyes, Jose went running. If he wants to come back, he can come back. But I swear to God, his day will come,” he stated.

On the other hand, Mendes drops to 17-3 with the setback to McGregor.

Lawler shrugs off third-round scare to retain welterweight strap

After a perilous third round that had him on wobbly legs, Filipino-American fighter Robbie Lawler simply refused to go down as he pounced back in the fifth round to thwart Rory MacDonald in their rematch and remained as the UFC welterweight champion.

The bloody back-and-forth encounter against MacDonald came to a close at the 1:00 mark of the final round, where Lawler’s solid left cracked MacDonald on his horribly-damaged nose and sent him crumbling to the mat.

“That was the accumulation of a beatdown. That wasn’t one punch. That was years of fighting. I’m the champ and I’m here to stay,” Lawler said after the fight.

MacDonald was attempting to become the first UFC champion out of Canada since Georges St-Pierre vacated the welterweight title in late 2013 and appeared that hewas on his way to doing so as he delivered front kicks to the body and landed his stinging jabs.

As Lawler responded by throwing with heavy looping punches on the head of his opponent, MacDonald attempted his first takedown of the bout at 3:30 of the opening salvo, but it was easily stuffed by the champion.

The 33-year-old veteran found his timing and range in the second frame as he began clobbering power shots and opened up a gruesome gash on the bridge of MacDonald’s nose.

MacDonald shifted the momentum in a blink of an eye in the third canto as he wrapped a head kick around his foe’s defenses.

Lawler absorbed a barrage of punches, standing elbows, and knees from the 25-year-old challenger, but he refused to wilt.

MacDonald seemed to get the better of the exchanges in round four, but the damage on his face left him vulnerable as Lawler capitalized and sent a straight left crashing directly into his nose.

The 5-foot-11 Canadian crumbled to his back in visible distress, and Lawler polished the scene with follow-up punches to force referee John McCarthy to halt the contest.

“I showed everyone I’m a true fighter and I come to fight no matter what,” Lawler said. “I keep coming and I come to knock people out. My coaches told me to stay basic, pick him apart, and I would eventually knock him out.”

Lawler (26-10, 1 NC) successfully defends his UFC welterweight belt for the first time since winning the title from Johny Hendricks in December 2014, while MacDonald (18-3) snaps his three-fight winning streak with the disappointing defeat to his rival.

Both men first crossed paths in November 2013 when Lawler walked away with a split decision triumph. – Rappler.com