Hard-fighting Conor McGregor has lost to current number one lightweight fighter, Dustin Poirier, in Las Vegas on Sunday for the second time in six months.
The former two-time UFC world champion was forced to retire at the end of the first round after falling on his ankle.
The 32-year-old Dublin went down in the final seconds of the first round after taken a kick from Poirier.
It was the third, much-hyped meeting between the two fighters.
Poirier had been in control through the first five minutes of the bout, blocking McGregor’s kicks and landing several strikes before grappling with the 32-year-old.
Poirier landed a series of punches and elbows on his opponent before knocking him down.
The Dublin native’s ankle was visible bent as he fell.
Medics were immediately called into the octagon to assess McGregor’s condition.
When it was clear that he could not continue, referee Herb Dean declared a stop to the bout on the instructions of the doctor.
“This is not over,” McGregor said in the post-match interview. “If I have to take it outside, let’s take it outside.”
UFC president Dana White later said that McGregor had broken “the lower tibia in his left shin”.
The much-hyped fight was the third meeting between the pair after American Poirier avenged his 2014 loss back in January.
McGregor had been eyeing a return to boxing, but questions remain about whether he has a long-term future in UFC
He has been hoping to engage in a boxing fight against Manny Pacquiao at the time, but the Filipino’s interest has cooled in the months following McGregor’s previous defeat in Abu Dhabi.
The 32-year-old Irishman lost to Floyd Mayweather in a similar bout back in 2017.
Known for his aggressive public persona outside the ring, McGregor first claimed the lightweight title in a 2016 fight against American Eddie Alvarez. He lost this title to Russian national, Khabib Nurmagomedov, in 2018.
Nurmagomedov, who is now retired and was once a bitter rival of McGregor, took to Twitter to congratulate Poirier on his victory, writing that “good always defeats evil.”
The pair clashed on the social media site in 2019 after the Irishman made a racial slur about Nurmagomedov’s wife; the couple are both observant Muslims.
The latest fight against Poirer was only the fourth time McGregor’s has competed in mixed martial arts in almost five years since winning the title.
(AFP, AP, Reuters)
