"For the better part of two rounds, McGregor took all Mendes could dish out," wrote Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com. "Then he showed the heart of a champion, rallying late in the second round to finish Mendes via TKO." Second referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight at 4:57 of the second round.
Conor McGregor"The pressure clearly took its toll on the conditioning of Mendes, who had but two weeks to prepare for the fight," said Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie, referring to Mendes' willingness to step in to replace injured UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo on short notice. "By the end of the first frame, he looked winded, while McGregor looked no worse for the wear. 'Don't get me wrong, the weight cut is tough, but I can go all f-cking night,' said McGregor afterward."
Weighing in on critics' comments that he had yet to face a fighter with wrestling credentials such as Mendes -- while also aiming a shot at Aldo, who had pulled out of the bout because of a rib injury -- McGregor said after the fight, "I've been hearing all the time that I'm protected from this style of opponent, that I've been gifted a title shot. So my title shot went running, and they gave me a guy who I was supposed to be protected from. I knew I was going to prove to people that I'm a true fighter. It doesn't matter who it is. I show up and I'm a professional and I'm confident in my abilities."
"In my opinion, Jose went running," McGregor continued. "I had bigger injuries leading up to this fight than that bruised rib. I still showed up here and performed. So in my eyes, Jose's gone running. If he wants to come back, he can come back. But I swear to God, his day will come."
After the match, McGregor said of his opponent Mendes, "I didn't feel threatened. Besides me, he's probably the No. 2 heaviest hitter in the division. He's certainly the best wrestler in the division. They try and find holes. They try and find questions that I've yet to answer. They try and find something that's gonna break me: the weight cut, the wrestler. There's always something but I always prevail, and I am always confident that I can take whatever these people give. I can walk through everything."
For his part, Mendes said, "I felt like I was doing great in the first two rounds, especially in that second one. I was controlling the fight the whole time. I took a risk, I went for the submission. I probably should have stayed there and kept throwing elbows. I'm trying to finish the fight. That's a risk you take and that's the fight game."
With the win, McGregor is now 18-2 overall in his MMA career, and 6-0 in UFC competition, while Mendes falls to 17-3 in MMA, 8-3 in UFC events.
Mendes was a two-time NCAA All-American at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He placed sixth in the 125-pound bracket at the 2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships ... then, two years later, made it to the 141-pound finals at the 2008 NCAAs, falling to Ohio State's J Jaggers in the title match. That year, Mendes also earned Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year honors. As a Mustang matman, Mendes compiled an overall record of 64-14.
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