Conor McGregor wins Las Vegas thriller after five-round classic with Nate Diaz at UFC 202

CONOR McGregor exacted revenge for his UFC 196 defeat to Nate Diaz with a thrilling win over his old foe in an instant classic at UFC 202 in Las Vegas.

McGregor started the bout in superb form, dropping Diaz in the opening round, then repeating the trick TWICE more in the opening minute of the second as he dominated the early exchanges.

But the durable Diaz came storming back at the end of the second, then took the third round as the atmosphere in the T-Mobile Arena reached fever pitch.

And after McGregor looked to have shaded the fourth, Diaz was left chasing a finish in the final round and, despite taking the Dubliner down to the mat in the closing seconds, the American was unable to secure the fight-winning submission he needed.

When the scorecards were announced, they declared McGregor the winner by majority decision, with scores of 48-47, 47-47, 48-47 giving the Irishman the win in the second meeting between the pair.

And when interviewed by Joe Rogan after the fight, McGregor immediately called for the rematch, but insisting that it be made on his terms, at the 155lb lightweight class.

“Surprise, surprise motherf*****s!” he declared, mimicking Diaz’s opening statement after the first fight.

“The king is back! If you want this trilogy, it’s on MY terms.

“I came up to 170, now you’ll come back to 155 and we’ll finish what we’ve started.”

Diaz agreed with the idea, saying: “I want number three, I gave him number two, so let’s do it.”

The co-main event saw one of the most brutal one-punch knockouts in recent memory as Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson starched fellow top contender Glover Teixeira in just 13 SECONDS to book himself a title rematch against champion Daniel Cormier.

With both renowned as heavy power punchers, the duo met in the centre of the Octagon and looked to establish their superiority.

But it was Rumble who made his mark with a huge uppercut that separated the Brazilian from his senses.

It was all the more remarkable given Teixeira’s record – his only TKO or KO loss came in his MMA debut, way back in 2002.

But that record of durability was well and truly smashed, thanks to Johnson’s terrifying punch power.

Fan favourite Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone called for a shot at the UFC lightweight title after finishing welterweight mainstay Rick ‘The Horror’ Story with a sensational salvo in their 170lb contest.

Cerrone looked in superb form throughout the opening exchanges, then turned up the heat early in the second round, unleashing a blistering combination that sent Story stumbling to the fence.

Another furious combination then sealed the deal for Cerrone, who called for a title shot against lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez for his next outing.

Welterweight Mike ‘Platinum’ Perry stepped in on short notice and claimed a debut win to remember against South Korean Hyun Gyu Lim.

Perry decked Lim with huge shots THREE times en route to a thrilling TKO victory that had the crowd on its feet.

And the main card kicked off with a bloody war as Tim ‘The Dirty Bird’ Means delivered a one-sided beatdown to short-notice debutant Sabah Homasi.

TV Prelims

The undoubted star of the preliminary card was bantamweight contender Cody Garbrandt, who produced a performance full of fire and ferocity as he demolished Japanese veteran Takeya Mizugaki.

Garbrandt dazzled with his thrilling comination of blistering hand speed and fight-ending punch power as he unleashed his own brand of MMA boxing to spectacular effect as he claimed another significant victory.

And Garbrandt’s 48-second demolition of Mizugaki almost certainly earned him a title shot with UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, with the young contender issuing a warning that the same fate will befall the champ when they eventually meet, saying: “I’m going to show him who his daddy is.”

Rising women’s bantamweight contender Raquel ‘Rocky’ Pennington claimed a hat-trick of successive UFC wins with a unanimous decision win over Elizabeth Phillips.

Pennington wasn’t able to showcase her striking skills in her bout against the gritty Phillips, but she showed good patience and maturity to secure all three rounds on the scorecards for a shutout win.

The preliminary battle between Team Diaz and Team McGregor went the way of the Irish-based outfit, as Artem Lobov proved just too experienced and too strong for young Skrap Pack prospect Chris Avila.

Avila looked a little overawed on his UFC debut, as Lobov hammered the Californian with heavy leg kicks throughout the contest, dominating the overwhelming majority of exchanges as the fight went the distance.
When the scorecards were tallied, ‘The Russian Hammer’ ran out the shutout victor, with scores of 30-27 across the board.

‘Cast Iron’ Cortney Casey claimed back-to-back victories for the first time in her UFC career, thanks to a very impressive submission finish of Canadian Randa Markos.

Markos looked to use her wrestling to dominate Casey on the mat. But despite being in a bad spot, the American was able to grab Markos arm and lock up an armbar to score arguably the biggest win of her UFC career so far.

UFC Fight Pass Prelims

The featured UFC Fight Pass prelim saw Lorenz Larkin spring a shock with a comprehensive dismantling of rising contender Neil Magny.

‘Da Monsoon’ dominated the fight from the very start, hurting Magny early and keeping the pressure on, showcasing his vast array of striking techniques.

And despite sustaining a nasty gash on his shin, Larkin eventually forced Magny to the cage fence, where he finished the respected campaigner with a vicious flurry of elbows.

After the fight, Larkin modestly announced himself to the fans in the T-Mobile Arena, saying: “I know a lot of you guys might not know who I am. Well, I’m here! What’s up?!”

The other two Fight Pass prelims also produced stoppage victories, with Colby Covington and Marvin Vettori claiming inside-the-distance wins.

Wrestler Covington leaned on his preferred discipline to dominate Max Griffin before finally stopping him in the final round, while UFC debutant Vettori kicked off the night with an impressive arm-in guillotine submission of Alberto Uda.