Conor McGregor’s return to the UFC did not quite go as planned on Saturday.
As the Irishman suffered a second round knockout defeat to American, Dustin Poirier whom he defeated seven years ago.
Since then, both men have progressed through the UFC ranks, with McGregor going on to hold World Championships at both lightweight and featherweight categories before retiring multiple times and even landing a big money boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor had not been in the ring since stopping Donald Cerrone 40 seconds into the first round at UFC 246 in January 2020, while Poirier had gone up a division to lightweight since his first fight against McGregor, and had been defeated only once in 11 bouts ever since.
The fight ended with a Technical Knockout for Poirier after he floored McGregor with a flurry of sweet hits to the head, and attacked him viciously on the ground, leaving the Irishman and fans who enjoy betting on MMA stunned.
The fight was the main event of UFC 257 which held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, at the UFC Fight Island. A few thousand fans were allowed to attend the fight, with UFC reportedly spying on fans’ houses to curb illegal streaming of the fight.
Wearing a new look with a clean shaven head and his now trademark beard, McGregor was facing a first bout in 12 months and his rustiness was evident from start to finish as he looked a shadow of the hard hitter that dominated the mixed martial arts stage for years.
Poirier easily overcame his defences time and again, hitting him cleanly multiple times as McGregor looked to take the cool and calm approach to the fight.
McGregor tried to use his boxing ability to his advantage, but Poirier found ease in making use of calf kicks to weaken his resolve and defences in the fight.
McGregor held out well in the first round before his resistance was eventually broken two minutes and thirty two seconds into the second round as he lost to a knock out for the first time ever in his Mixed Martial Arts career. McGregor left the Fight Island on a single crutch after the bout.
Stating that his retirement and time away from the industry didn’t do much help to his chances, McGregor in his post-fight interview acceded to the fact that it was always going to be difficult to overcome inactivity over long spans of time.
He said he never really got going in the fight, as Poirier never allowed him to settle, but also promised to come back stronger and earn his place among the big dogs in the division once again.
McGregor has now lost two of his three fights since 2016, and his opponent on the night, Dustin Poirier has not ruled out the possibility of a third bout between the two.
Long-time rival of McGregor’s, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has defeated both Poirier and McGregor in the octagon tweeted after the fight that McGregor’s loss had been caused by the fact that his training regimen had changed, and that he now sparred with kids, subtly taunting the Irish superstar.
McGregor responded with a challenge to Khabib to come out of retirement and walk the talk against him in the octagon. It remains to be seen who McGregor’s next opponent will be, but it sure promises to be another blockbuster bout.