Tag: UFC 264

Dustin Poirier’s UFC 264 fight gear from Conor McGregor trilogy win up for auction

As has become his tradition, Dustin Poirier has put his pieces of his fight kit up for auction to help benefit his non-profit, The Good Fight Foundation.

The tradition continues for [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] after UFC 264, because his fight-worn gear from his trilogy bout with Conor McGregor is now up for auction.

As has become the standard over his past several fights, Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) has put his pieces of his fight kit up for auction to help benefit his non-profit, The Good Fight Foundation.

The items this time are particularly special, given the gravity of the contest with McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC). A lucky bidder will be able to purchase what Poirier wore in the octagon for his win over McGregor in the rubber match, which ended when “The Notorious” suffered a broken leg late in the opening round of a fight Poirier was dominating.

The collection of items includes his fight trunks, hand wraps, gloves, walkout shirt, hat, and fight night credential. Bidding has opened at $20,000 and closes on July 19.

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Proceeds from the auction will go toward Poirier’s charity goal set prior to UFC 264. The Good Fight Foundation is teaming up with Justin Wren’s Fight for the Forgotten charity and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao to help build housing and other community assets across 42 acres of land for the Pygmie people in Uganda.

Poirier has used his fight career to help elevate The Good Fight Foundation over the past several years. He’s attached charity goals to each of his fights, with his philanthropic efforts including building water wells to repair a ruined water supply at an orphanage and school in Uganda, building a playground for special needs children, supplying backpacks for more than 500 schoolchildren, and, most recently, providing transportation and tutoring for struggling youth through The Boys & Girls Club of Acadiana.

Poirier’s efforts have not gone unnoticed in the MMA community. Prior to his June 2020 win over Dan Hooker at UFC on ESPN 12, Poirier was honored with the inaugural “Forrest Griffin Community Award” to acknowledge his work.

More information on Poirier’s past and future charitable acts can be found at TheGoodFightGroup.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8aFe0P9COk

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Jake Paul blasts Conor McGregor’s value after UFC 264: ‘He needs Jake Paul more than I need him’

Jake Paul had some harsh words for Conor McGregor after his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

[autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] had some harsh words for [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] after his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

Paul roasted McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) online in the immediate aftermath of the former two-division UFC champion’s TKO loss to Poirier on Saturday, which saw the fight end when he snapped his leg in the final seconds of the first round.

Since he entered the combat sports realm after making fame as a YouTuber, Paul has said repeatedly he wants to share the ring with McGregor. He’s predicted it as an inevitability, but now he seems to have a little more doubt.

After McGregor lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, Paul thinks his value his dropped significantly. The reported 1.8 million pay-per-view buys for UFC 264 indicate otherwise, but Paul isn’t going to pass up on an opportunity to share his thoughts on the Irishman.

“I think the funny thing about this journey is I’ve predicted everything that’s happened thus far,” Paul told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during a Tuesday press conference in Los Angeles. “18 months ago when I said I wanted to fight Conor, people laughed at me. Now I’m laughing at Conor with a broken ankle, sitting there in the octagon, and he needs Jake Paul more than I need him. So, yeah, my offer to Conor is $23, and if we ever fought I would knock those fake-ass teeth right out of his f*cking mouth.

“Dustin Poirier defeated this man, and Dustin Poirier is an amazing fighter – don’t get me wrong – amazing guy, I actually became a fan of his over the weekend. But he’s 5-foot-9, 155 pounds. I’m 6-foot-1, 200 (pounds). So, Conor McGregor would not stand a chance.”

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Paul’s disdain for McGregor is so strong that he had a custom chain created that depicted McGregor after his second-round TKO loss to Poirier in their trilogy bout at UFC 257 in January. He called it the “Sleepy McGregor,” and wore it while he sat cageside at the event.

According to Paul, he is gifting that chain – allegedly valued at $100,000 – to Poirier, who intends to auction it and donate the proceeds to charity.

“The Conor chain is back at home, but Dustin Poirier sent me over his address, so we’re getting that over to him and I think he’s going to action it off for charity. So, someone is going to be able to get the ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor ‘Sleepy McGregor’ chain.”

While only time will tell if Paul and McGregor will ever clash in a fighting setting, Paul currently has another objective to focus on as he meets former UFC champ Tyron Woodley in a boxing match on Aug. 29. The event airs on Showtime pay-per-view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPIBv7aP7fE

 

Kris Moutinho disputes stoppage in Sean O’Malley loss: ‘Let me go out on my shield’

Kris Moutinho disagrees with referee Herb Dean’s call to stop Sean O’Malley bout at Saturday’s UFC 264.

[autotag]Kris Moutinho[/autotag] is not happy with the way things went down in his UFC debut.

Moutinho (9-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered a third-round TKO loss in his octagon debut at UFC 264 on Saturday, losing to prospect Sean O’Malley in the opening fight of the main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But on top of not getting his hand raised, he thinks his fight was stopped prematurely.

Moutinho showed tons of heart and durability against O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), but he was badly battered and dropped once during the bantamweight contest. Referee Herb Dean decided he had seen enough and called the fight with 27 seconds left in Round 3. Many online protested that Moutinho should’ve been given the chance to go the distance, while others argued the stoppage saved him from additional damage.

The 28-year-old agrees with the former, he said, and felt he was still game in the fight.

“I definitely think it was stopped too soon, but I’m not going to sit here and bash Herb Dean because he seems like a great guy and a great referee,” Moutinho told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ve seen him make a lot of great calls, sometimes you make bad ones. I’ve seen guys who look like they’re going to die in that cage and not get stopped. You can watch the Rory MacDonald fight with Robbie Lawler where he went four and a half rounds with his face smashed and a bloody mess and they didn’t stop that fight.

“There was 30 seconds left, let me go out on my shield. I was still standing, I was still throwing punches, so yeah I’m a little upset.

“If it would’ve gone to decision, I still would’ve lost the fight, so it doesn’t really matter. A loss is a loss. I’m a very competitive person, everyone is talking to me like, ‘It was 10 days notice, don’t be upset about the loss,’ but I’m always upset about the loss. I’m a man and I got pride. It hurts to lose, I wanted his head on my wall. But I’ll go back, get better and the next guy is going to have to pay for it.”

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A big talking point in the bout apart from O’Malley’s striking accuracy, Moutinho’s durability, and the controversial stoppage, was the pace of the contest. Moutinho marched forward the entire time and made O’Malley work. Many, including UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier, thought O’Malley was slowing down despite still keeping a lede in the scorecards.

Moutinho said he felt O’Malley was getting tired and thinks a few adjustments in a second meeting would get his hand raised.

“I asked him the fight at one point, ‘You’re tired,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah,'” Moutinho said. “I know I got to the dude, I know he’s going to remember me for the rest of his life.

“He’s never going to want to fight me again and if he does, there’s a lot of different things I’m going to do in that fight if I ever fight him again. The leg kicks were working, I was landing a lot of leg kicks. I just should’ve kept going with them. My hands, I should’ve set them up with feints. There’s a lot of stuff me and my coaches will be working on and we’ll get better from this. It could be at 135 (pounds), it could be at 125, we’re just going to get better and keep going.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlVQN6Rud6k

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Report: UFC 264 does monster pay-per-view numbers, Poirier vs. McGregor 3 tops rematch

The trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor at UFC 264 reportedly sold the second most pay-per-views in UFC history.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s prediction of UFC 264 setting a new view record for the promotion did not come to fruition. But he was damn close.

UFC 264, which took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, featured McGregor’s (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier (28-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in the headlining act. It was a highly anticipated rubber match after each man picked up a knockout win over the other, and it’s clear it has the focus of the sports and entertainment world.

So much so that, according to a report from Sports Business Journal, UFC 264 pulled in 1.8 million pay-per-view buys, with roughly 1.3 million of those coming in domestically though ESPN+ (via Twitter):

UFC ratings notes:
PPV buys came over just under 1.8 million globally. Dana White said as much at the post event press conference.
I’m told that 500,000 of those buys came from international, which means ESPN+ logged around 1.3 million buys.

McGregor’s presence at UFC 264, which saw him suffer a first-round TKO loss to Poirier after he could not continue beyond the opening five minutes due to a broken leg, made it a star-studded event.

A plethora of celebrities were in attendance to watch McGregor compete, and with 20,062 in the crowd overall, the organization pulled in an announced $15,759,800 at the live gate.

It was a tremendously successful night by all accounts, and Bloody Elbow’s John Nash, who covers the business side of the sport, indicated the UFC brass came away counting the cash (via Twitter):

In the US that’s a mil over their ESPN+ threshold, so an extra $35-40m on top of their ESPN guarantee. UK PPVs lower the inter’ll average but that would still probably add another $15m there. Throw in gate & other non contracted revenues & UFC 264 probably did almost $100m total.

McGregor guessed prior to UFC 264 that he thought the event could surpass the pay-per-view record of 2.4 million for his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018. It didn’t quite get there, but 1.8 million would make it the highest selling event in UFC history, moving just ahead of the reported 1.6 million for the Poirier vs. McGregor rematch at UFC 257 in January.

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UFC 264 medical suspensions: Why Sean O’Malley – not Kris Moutinho? – faces potential six months

Despite battering Kris Moutinho, it’s Sean O’Malley who’s potentially looking at six months out of action after UFC 264.

Despite battering [autotag]Kris Moutinho[/autotag] for three rounds, it’s [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] who could be looking at six months out of action.

O’Malley needs an X-ray on both hands and both feet after putting on a striking clinic against tough newcomer Moutinho on Saturday at UFC 264. Moutinho, on the other hand, is looking at a two-month suspension for the damage taken in the fight, with no contact for 45 days.

On Tuesday, MMA Junkie acquired a full list of the UFC 264 medical suspensions, which were issued by the Nevada Athletic Commission, from MixedMartialArts.com, the Association of Boxing Commission’s official record keeper.

Also facing a 180-day term is [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], who broke his left tibia and fibula in a first-round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Dustin Poirier. McGregor faces a minimum six months out of action after undergoing surgery on Sunday.

Rounding off the six-month suspension list are [autotag]Ryan Hall[/autotag], who needs clearance for his fractured left hand that he says broke on the first punch landed in his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria; [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag], who fractured his nose in a decision loss to Brad Tavares; [autotag]Greg Hardy[/autotag], who needs his left orbital bone cleared by a doctor after suffering a first-round knockout to Tai Tuivasa; and [autotag]Yana Kunitskaya[/autotag], who fractured her nose in a first-round TKO loss to Irene Aldana.

The full list of UFC 264 medical suspensions includes:

Dominick Cruz to Conor McGregor after UFC 264: ‘How do you grow’ without accepting defeat?

Dominick Cruz is not a fan of the way Conor McGregor handled his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

[autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] is not a fan of the way [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] handled his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was defeated by Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) for the second consecutive time on Saturday, suffering a broken tibia and fibula in a TKO loss due to doctor’s stoppage in the first round.

The Irish superstar was irate afterward, claiming that the second round would have been a different story had he not injured his leg. McGregor had a hard time accepting the loss, lashing out at Poirier and his wife by lobbing up death threats.

While his post-fight antics were concerning, Cruz (23-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) thinks McGregor will never grow as a fighter if he fails to assess what went wrong in the fight.

“After multiple losses like that, you tend to sit on your hands and shut up,” Cruz said on the UFC 264 post-fight show. “We’re not seeing that. We’re not seeing the silence. We’re not seeing the humility. We’re not seeing the vulnerability that he put on place to put himself in a position where you may or may not win. You’re not exercising the vulnerability that, yeah, you just showed that you lost. This is the game. There’s a position where you get smashed sometimes, and you have to accept that as a fighter. That is part of why we do martial arts, is to accept the losses and the wins and grow from them. When you don’t accept these losses, how do you grow? How do you fill the gap?”

Cruz, the former UFC bantamweight champion, delivered a bone-chilling speech after getting dethroned by Cody Garbrandt in 2016 and was highly commended for the way he handled the loss. However, when he returned almost four years later to challenge then-champ Henry Cejudo for the 135-pound title, he didn’t take that defeat quite as well.

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Cruz was unhappy with his stoppage loss, accusing referee Keith Peterson of smelling like alcohol and cigarettes. But in Cruz’s defense, he has shown more resolve than just about any fighter on the roster by constantly returning from career-threatening injuries. He was able to snap his two-fight losing skid by edging out Casey Kenney in his most recent outing at UFC 259.

“There’s been times where I’ve felt not right with my stoppages, but I still take responsibility for the loss itself,” Cruz added. “I still put myself in that position to lose and when you take responsibility, you can start shifting from the loss. We’re not seeing that, and that’s what I think is gonna stop him the most from succeeding moving forward.”

McGregor has a long road to recovery ahead of him. “The Notorious” underwent a successful three-hour surgery on Sunday, and a six-week timeline is expected for his recovery.

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Dustin Poirier praises UFC champ Charles Oliveira for ‘incredible work history’

Dustin Poirier can relate to newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] can relate to newly crowned UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag].

Having competed at both featherweight and lightweight himself, Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) sees a lot of similarities between his path and Oliveira’s (31-8 MMA, 19-8 UFC) and has nothing but respect for the champion as he gears up to challenge him for the title.

“He’s not just a guy in the division that happens to have the belt,” Poirier told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 264 post-fight news conference. “He’s a guy who’s picked himself up off the canvas time and time again, fought through adversity through two weight classes (and) been in the UFC a decade. He’s not just a guy with the belt. He’s earned every ounce of gold he has around his waist, and I have nothing but respect for guys like that.

“I don’t know him personally, but his work history – I can’t hate on anything he’s done. It’s incredible. That’s tougher to do than to go undefeated. You never learn things about yourself. You learn things about yourself in those losses and climbing back to the top and getting motivated again. That’s when you find out you’re a real fighter. I’m not saying these undefeated guys aren’t, but I have respect for somebody who’s climbed back up and won a world championship.”

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Poirier cemented his No. 1 contender spot when he defeated Conor McGregor for the second straight time at UFC 264 on Saturday. Though the title shot is undoubtedly next, Poirier wants to take some time off before jumping into another training camp.

“I need to go home and decompress,” Poirier said. “I don’t know the schedule for the UFC, what they’re planning on doing at the end of the year. I know someone told me earlier that Charles wanted to fight me in December, so we’ll see. We’ll figure everything out. I just want to get home to my family.”

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Rafael dos Anjos trashes Conor McGregor’s UFC 264 showing: ‘He looks like a little boy’

Rafael dos Anjos says Conor McGregor’s UFC 264 experience would’ve been even worse if he was the opponent.

[autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] isn’t impressed with what he saw out of [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] at UFC 264.

Dos Anjos (31-13 MMA, 19-11 UFC), a former UFC lightweight champion, was pegged as the replacement fight for McGregor’s (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) trilogy bout with Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He made weight ahead of the card, but his services were ultimately not required.

Still, though, dos Anjos was part of the narrative both before and after the fight. He got into a verbal altercation with McGregor backstage at weigh-ins, then when “The Notorious” suffered a broken leg that led to his first-round TKO loss, the Brazilian took a shot at him on social media.

Dos Anjos was supposed to fight McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016, but a broken foot suffered just 11 days out forced him to withdraw. He was replaced by Nate Diaz – who went on to submit McGregor – and the Irishman has since repeatedly criticized dos Anjos for his inability to make it to the octagon that night.

The tension from that situation has remained, and despite dos Anjos’ claim he doesn’t wish McGregor any true ill will, he said he has to make his voice heard.

“I don’t believe in karma,” dos Anjos told MMA Junkie Radio on Monday. “I don’t want anything bad for him, I wish him a speedy recovery, but I had to do that. I had to do that. People are still making fun with my injury. That’s what’s bugging me a lot, because people make fun of somebody’s injury. I didn’t make fun of his injury. I just showed because it’s a combat sport, we punch each other not only in the fight, but in training as well. I broke my foot. I was in a cast for six weeks and this guy made fun of me. All his fans, all his supporters making fun of me for years. Now he tastes his own medicine.

“Even Friday at the weigh-ins, he said, ‘Hey, you ducked me with a sore foot. He said the same thing on Friday too, that Dustin Poirier would leave the cage on a stretcher, and look how things happened. He left on a stretcher with a broken foot. So, he getting his own thing. He’s tasting his own venom and his own medicine and that’s it. I wish him a speedy recovery, but that’s what he got by talking too much.”

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Dos Anjos said he was not impressed with what he saw out of McGregor before the injury. The early striking exchanges were competitive, but Poirier’s ground work was taking on the back half of the round. Dos Anjos said he’s even more effective in that position, and it would’ve been a bad night for McGregor had his services been required.

“It would look way worse,” dos Anjos said. “I think my ground game is way more powerful than Poirier’s. It would be way different. Conor, he looked so sloppy, he looked so small. I met him at the weigh-in day and we had a small altercation in the back room and he looks so small. He looks like a little boy. I would smash that guy.”

Dos Anjos’ chance to “smash” McGregor will have to wait, though. He didn’t get his opportunity at UFC 196 or UFC 264, but if McGregor makes a successful recovery, the stars could possibly align in the future.

There are no regrets from dos Anjos’ end being the UFC 264 replacement. After undergoing surgery earlier this year, he said it gave him something to focus on and work toward. He offered to do it, in fact, and although he wouldn’t have been in perfect shape if he did get the call, he’s glad to have done it.

“Of course I didn’t have the timing for training that I actually need, but it was good for me because it set the goal that I have to be in shape and I had maybe two or three sparring sessions,” dos Anjos said. “Definitely I would not be at 100 percent, but that would be a big challenge for me to be a replacement for that fight. It’s a huge fight. Poirier vs. Conor. I took the chance, I took the opportunity and they accepted my offer as well. It would be a good payday for me and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ I would not be 100 percent, it would not be the ideal camp for me because four months ago I was in the surgery room.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShfSIyM70II

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Ali Abdelaziz: ‘Prostitute’ Conor McGregor has become ‘easy payday,’ can’t compete with top 15 any more

After UFC 264, Ali Abdelaziz thinks he can no longer compete with the upper echelon of the lightweight division.

LAS VEGAS – Ali Abdelaziz wasn’t impressed with [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s antics at UFC 264, nor was he surprised by the way things played out.

A longtime rival of McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by his close association to former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Dominance MMA Management CEO has long thought of the Irishman as “evil” – a word his fighter Nurmagomedov used Saturday after the fight.

With the way things played out Saturday in the aftermath of McGregor’s trilogy fight loss to Dustin Poirier, Abdelaziz thinks his opinion was further vindicated.

“He’s his own manager; he’s his own trainer; he’s the head coach; he’s everything,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie at a small media gathering Monday. “When you have a whole bunch of ‘yes’ people around you, he’s not evolving his game. At the end of the day, good always defeats evil. He’s an evil human being. He cans ay whatever he wants. Of course, I don’t like the guy. But if he does something good, I’ll give him credit. How are you going to threaten to kill Dustin Poirier’s wife?”

If he was in charge, Abdelaziz said McGregor would receive a seven-figure fine for his comments post-fight. Abdelaziz also indicated those surrounding McGregor are partially to blame.

“If I was Dana White, I would fine this guy $1 million,” Abdelaziz said. “Dana should have guidelines. I know Dana said, ‘We say mean things to each other.’ Can you imagine if somebody (said this) about Dana’s wife? I know Dana don’t give a sh*t, but in reality, he’s just completely wrong because this footage is for life. It’s for life. In reality, man, him and his entire people, they are just bad people, man. All of them. They’re delusional.”

Abdelaziz indicated that he’s irked by McGregor’s recklessness and voiced the opinion that McGregor could be doing more with his fame to promote good – rather than trash-talk.

“The guy acts like this (invincible) gangster, but he’s really not. He’s a guy,” Abdelaziz said. “God tests you. He gives you this kind of power, right? And he sees what you’re going to do with it. (McGregor) did everything wrong with his power. Look at guys like Khabib (Nurmagomedov), Dustin Poirier, (and) Daniel Cormier. They use their power (for) good. They help other people. All this guy does is hurt people. Listen, this guy has a family. By doing this, he’s hurting his own family. Who wants to be the son of this kid? Nobody wants to be the son of someone like him.”

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As for doing future business with McGregor, indirectly through the UFC, Abdelaziz is open to his clients getting a payday. Abdelaziz thinks McGregor would be an easy paycheck for his top lightweights, which include former UFC title challenger Justin Gaethje, UFC on ESPN 26 headliner Islam Makhachev, and top contender Beneil Dariush. McGregor’s days of being a “tough out” for the upper-echelon of the division is over, in his estimation.

“In reality, f*ck him,” Abdelaziz said. “I don’t really care about him. He’s easy money. I hope he’s healthy. He can come back (and) fight (Justin) Gaethje, Islam (Makhachev), or Beneil (Dariush). He’s an easy payday for everybody. He’s become, like I said, he’s a prostitute. Guys use him right now for hype. That’s it. Because he’s easy money. He can not beat anybody in the top 10 or the top 15. He cannot compete with these guys anymore. He cannot.”

Check out MMA Junkie’s full interview with Ali Abdelaziz below.

https://youtu.be/lQFDYCF6d9c

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Khabib Nurmagomedov: ‘Something superior’ caused Conor McGregor’s leg break at UFC 264

Khabib Nurmagomedov points to divine intervention when breaking down Conor McGregor’s leg break at UFC 264.

[autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] points to divine intervention when breaking down [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s leg break at UFC 264.

McGregor’s (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas ended in gruesome fashion when the former two-division champion could not continue after suffering the injury in the closing seconds of Round 1. Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) was declared the winner by TKO, and afterward, Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) tweeted that “good” had prevailed over “evil.”

There’s no doubt Nurmagomedov’s negative history with McGregor led to his initial reaction, but he said he stands behind it. He saw the way in which McGregor acted before the fight with Poirier – as well as after the fight – and he pointed to the will of God not allowing the Irishman to thrive in that moment.

“(There’s) always (going to) be there something superior – more powerful – than we have,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie on Monday. “Sometimes when people become, ‘I’m this, I can do this. I’m smart because I’m strong.’ God always going to make you humble. I saw yesterday or two days ago, I saw his coach’s interview like, ‘I don’t understand how this happened. He’s a strong young, strong man and he broke his foot, I don’t understand.’ Everything from God. You have to become humble. When you become rich, when you become strong, when you become famous and then you think this is because of myself? God going to make you humble.”

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Nurmagomedov clearly doesn’t feel bad that McGregor suffered an injury that required a three-hour surgery with a rod, plate, and screws being inserted into his leg. Oppositely, he’s thrilled with the outcome, because it saw Poirier shine inside the octagon.

The victory for Poirier set him up for a lightweight title showdown with Charles Oliveira, and Nurmagomedov said he hopes to see “The Diamond” capture gold.

“I really enjoy this fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “I’m really happy with Dustin Poirier. I think he deserve title shot, and I think he deserve to be UFC lightweight champion right now.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOB62VlOBPQ

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