[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] is the first fighter to finish [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] with strikes.
After McGregor, the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, 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.
Poirier used a left hand to the jaw to setup up a flurry of a finish of McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) at the 2:32 mark of Round 2 at Etihad Stadium in Abu Dhabi. And with that, the former interim lightweight champ had his revenge.
“The goal was to be technical and pick my shots and have a big finish,” Poirier said.
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The opening round saw Poirier attempt to wear McGregor down in the clinch, which ended up with several reversals of position along the fence in which both landed solid shoulder shivers, but McGregor more. After they broke, McGregor’s striking started to land, not just his trademark lefts, but solid right jabs to the head and body shots.
Poirier, however, began finding his footing toward the end of the round. By the second, Poirier began landing calf kicks to McGregor’s lead leg at will, and when one visibly wobbled him, it was clear the fight’s trajectory had changed. Poirier throws with bad intentions, and he stalked the fading McGregor and started landing heavy punches.
A monster left hand to the face was the big blow, and a vicious flurry put McGregor on the mat and ended the bout.
"You don't get away with being inactive in this business… I'm gutted."@TheNotoriousMMA reflects on his loss to Dustin Poirier at #UFC257 pic.twitter.com/K2Bu2Beryf
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 24, 2021
With the victory, Poirier avenged a loss in their first matchup, a first-round McGregor TKO at UFC 178 in 2014. It was his second consecutive win after a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019 and his seventh win in his past eight fights.
McGregor now has lost two of his past three fights and has only won once since 2016. This was the first non-submission loss of his career.
“It just wasn’t where I needed to be tonight,” McGregor said. “I’ll come back again, that’s what I’ll do. I need activity.”
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Complete UFC 257 results:
- Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor via TKO (punches) — Round 2, 2:32
- Michael Chandler def. Dan Hooker via TKO (punches) — Round 1, 2:30
- Joanne Calderwood def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Makhmud Muradov def. Andrew Sanchez via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:59
- Marina Rodriguez def. Amanda Ribas via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:54
- Arman Tsarukyan def. Matt Frevola via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Brad Tavares def. Antonio Carlos Junior via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Julianna Pena def. Sara McMann via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:39
- Marcin Prachnio def. Khalil Rountree via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Movsar Evloev def. Nik Lentz via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Amir Albazi def. Zhalgas Zhumagulovc via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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