A Notorious night in Sin City for Conor McGregor

“Thanks be to God we’re staying ‘til Wednesday,” said one half of a young couple from Tyrone. “It’ll take a few days to get over it... even if it was only 13 seconds. Wild.”

All around the MGM Grand were equally euphoric but exhausted Irish fight fans in the early moments of yesterday in Las Vegas. Some were sitting; some were singing; many were swaying.

Thirteen barely believable seconds in which their idol and Ireland’s most electrifying sporting star, Conor McGregor, had claimed an undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship world featherweight title, had left the invading Irish hordes stunned well into the small hours.

Wow!!!! Conor McGregor Knockouts Jose Aldo at #UFC194!!!!! https://t.co/zEbZursoW6

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) December 13, 2015

The Dubliner defeated reigning champion Brazilian icon José Aldo Jr, to send his star soaring to even greater heights. It was the fastest-ever world title win in the history of the sport, claimed to be the planet’s fastest-growing.

All weekend, Irish fans had congregated on the Strip, doing their best to drink the desert dry on Friday’s Twelve Pubs of Vegas, anything to steady nerves ahead of what shaped up to be a defining night in the fairytale journey of their beloved mixed martial artist.

Conor McGregor fans enjoying themselves at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas yesterday. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

McGregor, 27, has gone from a plumber on the dole in Crumlin to multi-millionaire within two years after a blistering run of victories in the cage. But this fight was billed as his most daunting to date. Yet the meeting of bitter rivals, which had taken 14 months to get here after a marathon build-up, was all over in the blink of an eye. One swing of McGregor’s ferocious left hand was all it took to inflict the first defeat in a decade on Aldo.

Pandemonium erupted in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, where 16,516 fans, overwhelmingly Irish and many paying almost $1,000 (€910) for a seat, had set a new attendance record.

The Irish are making the fight game what it is today, said the man known as The Notorious as he saluted his foot soldiers. Afterwards, chants of ‘Walking in a McGregor wonderland’ echoed through the rows of slot machines and blackjack tables. A fight that only took 13 breathtaking seconds was toasted for a whole lot longer as night turned to day in Sin City.