On Saturday, Dec. 12, the UFC hosted UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In the night’s main event, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo met interim champion Conor McGregor. The pair were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 189 in July, following an exhaustive media tour that took the fighters to both Aldo’s native Brazil and McGregor’s Ireland. However, the champion Aldo suffered a rib injury prior to the bout and was forced to pull out at the last-minute. He was replaced by multiple-time title challenger Chad Mendes, whom McGregor defeated by second-round TKO.
Aldo had been out of action since last October when he defeated the aforementioned Mendes via unanimous decision at UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro. The win marked Aldo’s seventh straight defense of his UFC belt and 10th consecutive title fight win dating back to the WEC. The 28-year-old had never tasted defeat in the UFC and rode an 18-fight winning streak that dates back to 2006.
McGregor, meanwhile, was also unbeaten inside the Octagon. The Irishman entered the title affair on the momentum of a 14-fight winning streak of his own. Five of his six wins under the UFC banner had come by way of knockout, including his finish of Mendes in July.
UFC gold was also on the line in the co-main event as middleweight kingpin Chris Weidman took on former Strikeforce titleholder Luke Rockhold.
The 12-fight event kicked off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET with three fights streaming on UFC Fight Pass. Four additional preliminary card bouts followed at 8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, with the five-fight main card airing live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.
For the full results of the event, click here.
Above are highlights of the bout between Faber and Saenz (courtesy of the UFC).
Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold – for middleweight title
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Yoel Romero
Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson
Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens
Tecia Torres vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
Warlley Alves vs. Colby Covington
Leonardo Santos vs. Kevin Lee
John Makdessi vs. Yancy Medeiros
Court McGee vs. Marcio Alexandre Jr.