Immortality isn't supposed to be easy.
Yet Conor McGregor made history in a raucous Madison Square Garden in the early hours of Sunday morning without breaking sweat.
The Dubliner marked the historic first ever MMA card in New York by becoming the first fighter in the UFC to reign over two divisions simultaneously as he unceremoniously stripped the lightweight title off Eddie Alvarez in an utterly devastating performance.
It was just so simple for McGregor, who dropped Alvarez three times within the first three minutes of the opening round, before finally putting the 32-year-old out of his misery with a punishing four-punch combo three minutes into the second stanza.
MCGREGOR MAKES HISTORY! #UFC205 #UFCNYC https://t.co/OfAxqzHKie
— #UFC205 (@btsportufc) November 13, 2016
It was a triumph again built on power and precision, McGregor's left hand a weapon that has left so many without any answers.
His dream achieved, the 28-year-old briefly fumed as UFC employees, who had strapped lightweight gold around his waist, delayed in bringing his featherweight title into the ring too.
"Where the f*** is my second belt?" he said as the Irish and Irish-ish hordes packed into the home of New York sport rattled the rafters.
"$4.2 billion this company sold for...cheap f***ers. They're trying to take that belt off me already."
He had few words of consolation for Alvarez, torn apart on the biggest stage he had known. "Eddie's a warrior," McGregor said, his second title arriving in the octagon. "But he shouldn’t be in there with me. I am a different level. Now, I celebrate as champion of two divisions."
The UFC had waited 20 years to get its foot in the door of the Empire State.
With this maiden card, it tried to blow the thing off the hinges, stacking it with a string of the biggest names in the sport.
It was more than enough to see Madison Square Garden's records tumble at the feet of McGregor and co. The mark for highest ever gate was shattered here, with over $17million in ticket sales.
The attendance record looked ready to fall too while pay-per-view expectations were higher than ever. A new location, but these huge numbers have been familiar territory for Notorious nights over the past two years. Yet it was history of another kind that had consumed the headline act in Manhattan.
The lightweight title that had briefly been on McGregor's horizon at the start of the year before then-champion Rafael Dos Anjos disappeared from view was now back in his sight-lines.
Conor McGregor is the first UFC champion to simultaneously hold belts in two weight classes. #AndNew pic.twitter.com/aTVOqXsaIv
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) November 13, 2016
History maker @TheNotoriousMMA, No one in irish sporting history has done what he has done, gripped the whole nation/world 🇮🇪 takeover!
— Michael Conlan (@mickconlan11) November 13, 2016
A belt for each shoulder was one of the myriad ways he summed up his outing. The culmination of his life's work was another.
Once the rest of the night's work - ten table-setting fights in all - was out of the way, the Garden turned green for McGregor's arrival and the air blue as Alvarez joined him in there.
It took all of a minute for Alvarez to be sent sprawling to the canvass. McGregor cracked him with a trademark left and the fist that had cleared out much of the featherweight division clearly packed as much ferocity ten pounds up the ladder.
The champion would be down twice more before the clock hit three minutes. Alvarez looked for answers but couldn't remember the question. He tried takedowns; they failed. He tried to get close' he got hurt. He tried to back off; he still got hurt. In truth, he was lucky to last the round. He wouldn't last much longer.
McGregor wobbled Alvarez again early in the second. The Philadelphia veteran was getting not burned but torched when he came toward the flame.
Then it was over. In a four-punch flurry, lead left, then right, another killer left and a final right. Referee John McCarthy had seen enough.
The green hordes were sent into raptures. The UFC had wanted their New York debut to be unforgettable. McGregor again delivered.
The headliners had given the night its crescendo but there had been plenty of high and some low notes before.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk again underlined her status as one of the most dominant fighters in the sport with a stirring title defence against Polish compatriot Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
The straw-weight champion survived a real scare after being rocked with a right hand in the fourth round to regain control and take a unanimous decision.
The night's other title fight ended in mass confusion when, after a sensational contest, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley held on to his title after a majority draw with Steven Wonderboy Thompson.
MC Bruce Buffer mistakenly initially called the 47-47 47-47 48-46 scorecards as a split-decision victory for Woodley.
The slip made little difference in the grand scheme of things but after ensured a crowd that had been enlivened by a wonderfully absorbing fourth round were at fever pitch for McGregor's moment.
Conor McGregor: "I've ridiculed everyone on the roster and I'd like to take this chance to apologise... to absolutely nobody!" #ufc205
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 13, 2016
And as for his next moment? A belt for each shoulder, McGregor's next move will be decided only by himself. Options abound.
Rivals who have already fallen to him like Jose Aldo Jr and Nate Diaz want a second or third crack. Upstarts like Khabib Nurmagomedov - who goaded the Irish fans here after his demolition of fellow lightweight Michael Johnson on the undercard - feel their own time has come.
After six fights in less than two years, a sabbatical has been mooted too. As McGregor climbed up on the top of the cage and raised bot belts aloft, he looked fresher than ever. Chase more history? Why not? Especially when it's this easy.
