WATCH: Top Five Knockouts of Birthday Boy Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor has played a key role in putting the spotlight on the UFC. Ever since he joined the UFC’s roster, the company has witnessed tremendous growth. His witty trash talk, coupled with his amazing abilities inside the octagon, is the perfect recipe for massive PPV sales. As McGregor turns 32 today, we will look back at some of his best knockouts in the UFC.

#5 Conor McGregor’s incredible comeback against Donald Cerrone

This is perhaps one of the most important victories of McGregor’s career. Not because of the opponent or the reward. But what the victory meant for the former two-division champion. Before this fight, McGregor was coming off a humiliating loss to the lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

A win was essential to put him back on the map. At UFC 246, the Irishman blasted Cerrone in the first round. It took him only 40 seconds to stop the American fighter in his tracks.

#4 Dusts off Dustin Poirier

After McGregor defeated Diego Brandão in July 2014, he jumped back into the octagon almost a month later. “The Notorious” was scheduled to face off against Dustin Poirier. During the build-up, both fighters developed a bitter rivalry that still exists today.

McGregor lived up to the hype and disposed of Poirier in the first round, ending the “Diamond’s” three-fight win streak at featherweight. The duo has improved so much since their first meeting that people want to see a rematch.

#3 Overcomes Chad Mendes

When the Jose Aldo fight fell through, Chad Mendes stepped in as a late replacement. Mendes brought the wrestling threat to the game. And fans doubted whether Conor could fight a wrestler. The fight seemed to favor Mendes in the beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlgps1wktKA

However, Conor McGregor was not fighting a “Full Camp Mendes.” The Irishman took over in the second round and stopped Mendes at 4:57. The victory also earned McGregor his first-ever UFC title.

#2 Defeats Eddie Alvarez to become “champ-champ”

As McGregor’s trophy collection swelled, his hunger for achieving new feats also grew. McGregor wanted to repeat what he did during his Cage Warriors days. He moved up to lightweight to fight the former champion, Eddie Alvarez.

McGregor dominated Alvarez on the feet and knocked him down several times before claiming his second belt via a stoppage. The “Notorious” became a two-division champion at UFC 205.

#1 Decimates Jose Aldo in 13 seconds

This one is a no-brainer. After blasting through Mendes at UFC 189, Conor McGregor took on Jose Aldo in a title unification bout. Winning the featherweight championship from Aldo was a huge achievement. The Brazilian was undefeated for nearly a decade. Nevertheless, it took McGregor 13 seconds to put Aldo to sleep.

As of now, the Irishman is retired. Although many fans claim that he will be back, there are no signs of his return yet. Realistically speaking, he need not fight ever again as he has earned enough money in his match with Floyd Mayweather. Besides that, he is also running a whiskey business.