Nine years to the day, Conor McGregor shockingly knocked out Jose Aldo within the first 12 seconds of their featherweight title bout, catapulting himself into superstardom.

After Jose Aldo pulled out of their scheduled main event for UFC 189, Conor McGregor was adamant he was remaining on the card and instead took on Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title.

The Irishman finished Mendes in the second round setting up a huge title unification fight against the consensus greatest featherweight of all time, Aldo.

Conor McGregor celebrates famous KO by inventing holiday in his honour

On December 12, after an extremely entertaining build-up, McGregor and Aldo faced off in the Octagon at UFC 194 from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

After predicting the fight to the exact moment, McGregor landed what has gone down as the most famous KO in the sport’s history, sinking Aldo within the first 12 seconds of the fight, with it now being nine years to the day since.

Reacting to his history-making moment, McGregor took to social media this Thursday, saying: “Happy Conor McGregor Day folks! The Twelfth of the Twelfth, 12/12, the day I unified UFC gold for my Ireland in record-breaking fashion. 12 second KO! Slainte (cheers).”

Things then seemingly went downhill for McGregor in the Octagon as he was handed his first loss under the UFC banner just three months later when he took on Nate Diaz in a late-notice welterweight bout after his lightweight title fight against Rafael dos Anjos was canceled.

Just five months later, he rectified the loss to Diaz in a classic rematch, picking up the majority decision which set up for his lightweight title fight against Eddie Alvarez.

Of course, ‘The Notorious’ went on to become the first simultaneous double champion in UFC history by knocking out Alvarez in round two, cementing himself as the biggest star in combat sports.

Conor McGregor shares images of him back in training

Despite his UFC return having been scheduled for June earlier this year, the 36-year-old hasn’t fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier back in 2021.

However, the Irishman has teased online that he is back in training, potentially gearing up for a return to the Octagon in 2025, as he has recently continued his feud with Michael Chandler.

One fight fans hope to see if ‘The Notorious’ does return, is a trilogy bout between him and Diaz. The Stockton brawler left the UFC back in 2022 after beating Tony Ferguson, and has since teased of a return himself.