It just had to go down like this, didn't it?

After so long out of the octagon, there was talk from the McGregor camp of getting rounds under his belt, warnings that the Crumlin-born fighter was more likely to pick Cowboy Cerrone apart over time than land an emphatic early KO...

And then last night happened.

Conor came out of his corner like a steam train powered by Popeye's canned spinach and threw an absolute bomb of a left hand mere seconds into the bout. This was not a man in the mood to hang around.

He then proceeded to put on an astonishing - albeit rather short - clinic of striking, utilising a stinging shoulder jab three times in the clinch which busted Cerrone's nose open seconds into the bout.

Seconds later, it was all over. Cowboy Cerrone, renowned for his kicks and the proud owner of the record for most KOs by head kick in UFC history, was starched by a brutal left kick from Conor which sent him wobbling. Mcgregor charged in with his famous left hand, and with Cowboy doing no more than protecting his head, referee Herb Dean waved the contest off.

40 seconds of work for Conor McGregor.

In the lead up to fight night, a tweet went viral that shows the difference of Conor on the scales between 145lbs - where he fought Jose Aldo for the featherweight world title, and at 170lbs, the weight at which he fought last night. Take a look at the astonishing difference:

Many assumed that following his bout with Cerrone, Conor would look to move back down to 155lbs in order to ready himself for a potential rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is slated to fight Tony Ferguson in April. Yet with the Irishman looking so smooth and powerful at 170lbs, don't be surprised if he returns to the welterweight division, where there are a couple of big fights to be made.

It is the fifth time that the Khabib/Ferguson bout has been ordered by the UFC, with a freakish streak of bad luck causing one fighter or the other to pull out with injury until now.

Fans will be hoping that this time the bout goes ahead as scheduled. There might just be a Crumlin-born fighter waiting to run it back with the victor.

It just had to go down like this, didn't it?

After so long out of the octagon, there was talk from the McGregor camp of getting rounds under his belt, warnings that the Crumlin-born fighter was more likely to pick Cowboy Cerrone apart over time than land an emphatic early KO...

And then last night happened.

Conor came out of his corner like a steam train powered by Popeye's canned spinach and threw an absolute bomb of a left hand mere seconds into the bout. This was not a man in the mood to hang around.

He then proceeded to put on an astonishing - albeit rather short - clinic of striking, utilising a stinging shoulder jab three times in the clinch which busted Cerrone's nose open seconds into the bout.

Seconds later, it was all over. Cowboy Cerrone, renowned for his kicks and the proud owner of the record for most KOs by head kick in UFC history, was starched by a brutal left kick from Conor which sent him wobbling. Mcgregor charged in with his famous left hand, and with Cowboy doing no more than protecting his head, referee Herb Dean waved the contest off.

40 seconds of work for Conor McGregor.

In the lead up to fight night, a tweet went viral that shows the difference of Conor on the scales between 145lbs - where he fought Jose Aldo for the featherweight world title, and at 170lbs, the weight at which he fought last night. Take a look at the astonishing difference:

Many assumed that following his bout with Cerrone, Conor would look to move back down to 155lbs in order to ready himself for a potential rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is slated to fight Tony Ferguson in April. Yet with the Irishman looking so smooth and powerful at 170lbs, don't be surprised if he returns to the welterweight division, where there are a couple of big fights to be made.

It is the fifth time that the Khabib/Ferguson bout has been ordered by the UFC, with a freakish streak of bad luck causing one fighter or the other to pull out with injury until now.

Fans will be hoping that this time the bout goes ahead as scheduled. There might just be a Crumlin-born fighter waiting to run it back with the victor.