Dustin Poirier is the first fighter to finish Conor McGregor with strikes.
After McGregor dominated most of the first round of their UFC 257 main event on Saturday night, Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) picked up the pace and then ended things in the blink of an eye. ‘eye.
Poirier used a left hand to his jaw to prepare for a flurry of an arrival from McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC), the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, at 2:32 of the second round at Etihad Stadium. in Abu Dhabi.
“The goal was to be technical, to choose my shots and to have a good finish,” said Poirier.
In the first set, Poirier attempted to carry McGregor into the clinch which resulted in several position reversals along the fence in which both landed solid shoulder shivers, but McGregor more . After their break-up, McGregor’s strike started to land, not just his trademark lefts, but solid forehands on head and body shots.
Poirier, however, began to find his balance near the end of the round. At the second, Poirier began to land calf kicks on McGregor’s lead leg at will, and when one of them visibly wavered it, it was clear the fight trajectory had changed. . Poirier throws with bad intentions, and he stalked the fading McGregor and started landing heavy punches.
A left hand monster to the face was the big hit, and a vicious flurry put McGregor on the mat and ended the festivities.
With the win, Poirier avenged a loss in his first game, a McGregor TKO in the first round at UFC 178 in 2014. It was his second straight win after a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019 and his seventh victory in of his last eight fights.
McGregor has now lost two of his last three fights and has won only once since 2016. It was the first loss of his career without submission.
“It just wasn’t where I needed to be tonight,” McGregor said. “I’ll be back, that’s what I’ll do. I need activity.
The lightweight bout was the main event of UFC 257 at the Etihad Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It aired on pay-per-view after preliminaries on ESPN and ESPN +.
UFC 257 Full Results:
- Dustin Poirier beats. Conor McGregor via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:32
- Michael Chandler won. Dan Hooker via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:30
- Joanne Calderwood beats. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Makhmud Muradov beats. Andrew Sanchez via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:59
- Marina Rodriguez beats. Amanda Ribas via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:54
- Arman Tsarukyan beats. Matt Frevola via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Brad Tavares defeats. Antonio Carlos Junior via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Julianna Pena beats. Sara McMann via Submission (Naked Rear Choke) – Round 3, 3:39
- Marcin Prachnio beats. Khalil Rountree via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Movsar Evloev beats. Nik Lentz by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Amir Albazi def. Zhalgas Zhumagulovc via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
