Dustin Poirier got his revenge at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates scoring the technical knockout over Conor McGregor in the second round.
Things were initially looking good for McGregor midway through the second round as the Irishman had Poirier with his back up against the fencing. Seconds later, Poirier was able to get a reversal and begin to lay a couple of brutal right hands that eventually dropped the former champion at the 2:32 mark.
“If Khabib (Nurmagomedov) is not coming back, me and Conor are the two best guys,” Poirier said just after his victory. “I think this was a title fight. I’m the champion.”
Poirier’s win comes seven years after his loss to McGregor back in 2014 when he was knocked out in the first round of a featherweight bout. Afterwards, Poirier suggested that a rubber match between the two could be in order.
“We’re 1-1, maybe have to do it again,” he said.
As far as McGregor goes, his return to the octagon came after a nearly 12 month hiatus. His last bout was a 40-second win over Donald Cerrone, however, the 32-year-old has only fought three times since 2016 while going 1-3 in his last four outings.
This was McGregor’s first defeat since a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
“It’s hard to overcome inactivity over long periods of time, and that’s just it,” McGregor mentioned after last night’s fight. McGregor added “(My) leg was dead, I just wasn’t as comfortable as I needed to be. It’s the inactivity, and that’s it. But Dustin’s some fighter.”
