Dustin Poirier beats Conor McGregor with a TKO in UFC 264 after McGregor appears to have broken his leg or ankle
By Jacob Lev, Alaa Elassar and Alanne Orjoux, CNN
In an anticlimactic and painful end to their third and much-anticipated match-up, Dustin Poirier beat Conor McGregor by TKO in the first round in the UFC 264 Saturday night after McGregor appeared to have broken his leg or ankle.
The two men had faced off twice before and talked a lot of trash in the lead-up to the match at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but Poirier came out on top in the short contest.
“This is not over! If I have to take this outside with him, I’ll go outside,” McGregor said after the match, still sitting in the octagon as trainers inspected his lower left leg.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan told McGregor that Poirier said he believed that his check of one of McGregor’s kicks is what broke his leg.
“There was no check!” McGregor insisted, then launching into a string of insults directed toward Poirier.
After the match, Poirier said he wished he’d gotten a stoppage by strikes, but “a win is a win.”
“I felt like I was control of the fight and I feel like his leg is the result a defensive move, me checking it, a kick,” he said.
McGregor (22-6) and Poirier (28-6) are longtime rivals. In 2014, McGregor defeated Poirier at UFC 178 with a first-round KO. But in January, Poirier got his revenge at UFC 257 with a second-round finish.
UFC President Dana White told reporters after the match that McGregor would be having surgery soon, and announced he intends to schedule a fight between Poirier and Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title.
Other matches of note
The bout between Poirier and McGregor was the big draw, but the main card was jam-packed with noteworthy battles Saturday night.
Irene Aldana took down Yana Kunitskaya in the women’s bantamweight with a first-round TKO.
Sean O’Malley beat Kris Moutinho in the bantamweight in the third round with a TKO, and Tai Tuivasa brought Greg Hardy down in a first-round TKO for the heavyweight match.
And Gilbert Burns took down Stephen Thompson in the welterweight class by unanimous decision.
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