Following his victory over Eddie Alvarez, Conor McGregor became the first UFC fighter to hold two belts in separate divisions at the same time.
The Irish featherweight/lightweight completely dominated Alvarez, knocking him out in the second round after already landing three knockdowns in round one, reports News.com.au.
But it wasn’t just his absolute dominance that caught people’s attention – The Notorious stunned viewers as he held both hands behind his back while staring down Alvarez.
Many fans interpreted it as a taunt to his opponent but if you believe McGregor’s post fight interview, the real reason was way more practical.
He revealed he’d had pain in his right hand leading up to the fight and so developed a technique that kept it out of the action as much as possible.
Mcregor said:
This [hand] was out of action for the whole camp. That’s why I developed that putting the hand behind my back.
I would be doing it in sparring, then I’d jar it or hit it and it would be swelling up in the middle of the rounds — I just figured out ways to fight around it.
To be honest I was icing it up until today but it’s actually alright now. I’m brand new. There’s not a fucking scratch on me.
After claiming the lightweight title at Madison Square Garden McGregor also laid out some pretty hefty demands following the sale of the UFC.
He said:
I’ve got both belts, a chunk of money, a little family on the way. You want me to stick around, you want me to keep doing what I’m doing, let’s talk. But I want the ownership now. I want equal share. I want what I earned.
Whoever runs this whole shit has to come to me and give me the real slice, because that’s what I’ve earned. I’ve earned this. Biggest gate. Biggest everything.
He makes a fair point.
