Dustin Poirier avenged his defeat against Conor McGregor and by far got the biggest win of his career.
The perennial lightweight UFC competitor surprised McGregor, beating him by TKO after punching him at 2:32 of the second round on Saturday night at the main event of the ‘UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Poirier first injured McGregor in the right leg with kicks to the calf. With McGregor’s leg compromised, Poirier pulled off a series of tough combinations. The final blow was a shovel right hand that McGregor dropped. Poirier remained on the ground, and referee Herb Dean stepped in to name him, marking the first KO or TKO loss in McGregor’s 13-year career.
“We’re 1-1,” said Poirier, who went into the fight as more than 275 loses. “Maybe we should do it again.”
Current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has made it clear that he intends to retire, but if he relinquishes his belt, Poirier has put himself in the driver’s seat for a title.
“I think it’s a fight for the title,” Poirier said. “I’m the champion.”
UFC President Dana White said at her press conference after the fight that she believes Poirier will fight Michael Chandler for the lightweight title, adding that a recent conversation with Nurmagomedov about his future UFC “didn’t sound too positive.”
“He said to me,‘ Dana, be honest with yourself. I’m many levels above these guys, I win them, ”White said of his talk to Nurmagomedov.“ I don’t know. But it doesn’t sound very positive. We’ll see. “
“I will talk to Khabib and see if he wants to defend that title,” White added. “And if it doesn’t, I’m not going to push it anymore.”
ESPN got Poirier to No. 3 and McGregor No. 10 to the world with 155 pounds.
McGregor and Poirier had struggled before, with McGregor winning a featherweight match by first-round TKO in UFC 178 in 2014.
McGregor had a strong first round. He landed several hard left hands and a good right shovel hook that dropped Poirier’s head back. Poirier dropped McGregor, but McGregor climbed back up relatively easily.
The two fought at the clinic, with McGregor landing a few times on the shoulder, like the ones Donald Cerrone injured a year ago. Poirier lost the round, but threw strong kicks at the calf, which came into play later.
In the second round, McGregor got some hard combos, but it was hard for him to check Poirier’s kick. McGregor began catching Poirier kicks and touchdowns. However, the damage was being done.
In the final sequence, Poirier threw a hard punch at McGregor’s right calf that clearly hurt him. Poirier hit McGregor against the cage and let go with a hard combination that shook McGregor, and then another, culminating in a beautiful right hand that dropped McGregor.
McGregor admitted to being injured by Poirier’s beef kicks, and said he was “very committed” to them.
“It’s hard to take. The highest highs and lows of this game,” he said at his press conference after the fight. “My leg is completely dead. Even though I felt like I was checking on them, it was just sinking into the muscle in the front of my leg and I was very compromised.”
McGregor added, “I didn’t adjust and that’s it. Dustin’s fair play, I’m very happy for him.”
Poirier beat McGregor 48-29 in significant attacks, with 18 of those leg attacks, according to UFC statistics.
Poirier has seven UFC lightweight playoffs, tied for the most in division history with Edson Barboza and Melvin Guillard.
It was McGregor’s first fight since Cerrone’s 40-second elimination at UFC 246 in January 2020 and his first time in lightweight since the 2018 loss to Nurmagomedov. McGregor has fought in the UFC only three times since 2016, but has vowed to stay active this year, saying he wanted to fight seven times this week for the next 18 months.
When asked what would come next, McGregor said he believes there are several good clashes. He said he expects a third fight with Poirier.
“I’ll take a different approach to the trilogy with Dustin,” McGregor said. “These leg kicks shouldn’t be wrapped up. The calf blow, the calf low point, I hadn’t experienced.”
White said he believes Saturday’s defeat will make McGregor “more hungry.”
“There are two ways: this happens more hungry or‘ I’m done, ’” White said.
UFC 257 took place in front of a limited number of fans at Etihad Arena with COVID-19 protocols. It was the UFC’s first pay-per-view event with fans coming in since last March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Poirier (27-6, 1 NC), former UFC lightweight interim champion, has only lost one defeat in his last nine fights: against Nurmagomedov. The Louisiana native, who coaches the U.S. Top Team in Florida, came out of a unanimous decision against Dan Hooker in June. Poirier, 32, has been 11-2 (1 NC) since the 2014 loss to McGregor and has been a perennial lightweight contender.
McGregor (22-5) had won three of his last four on arrival, with the only defeat that occurred during that period against Nurmagomedov in a title fight. The Irishman was the first simultaneous double champion in UFC history, winning the lightweight belt while featherweight champion against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016. McGregor, 32, is the biggest money winner in UFC history and even transcended MMA in 2017, moving into boxing in a match against Floyd Mayweather. McGregor is 10-2 in UFC fights.