Former UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor suffered his first MMA knockout loss thanks to Dustin Poirier. In the first round, “Notorious” actually hit some devastating punches that seemed to knock Dustin silly until the bell rang. While McGregor did win round one, Poirier did do some damage to the UFC star that would ultimately lead to his victory in the second round.
In round two, Poirier continued to do damage to McGregor due to leg kicks, which slowed down the former UFC Lightweight Champion and allowed Poirier to connect with a sweet punching combo that ended the fight at 2:32. While the UFC Lightweight title picture still remains murky, Poirier guaranteed himself a title shot with his stunning performance. As for Conor, the 32-year-old gave props to Dustin on his big victory and promises to regroup following the shocking loss:
“I’ll certainly regroup,” McGregor said to John Morgan of MMA Junkie. “I’ll regroup. I’ll pick myself off the floor and go again. That’s it. Styles make fights. There’s many great stylistic fights out there. Myself and Dustin are one-and-one. Myself and Nate are one-and-one. There are many good matchups for me. I’ll adopt a different approach for the trilogy. … I have a lot more weapons I didn’t get to show. It wasn’t my night. It wasn’t a great night. Again, no excuses. Hats off. (I’ll) regroup and pick myself up. I look forward to going back now and seeing the kids and just taking the licks.”
Poirier wasn’t the only man to pull off a huge upset as former Bellator World Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler made a statement thanks to his first-round TKO of Dan Hooker. Both Poirier and Hooker won the “Performance of the Night” bonuses alongside Makhmud Muradov and strawweight Marina Rodriguez.
Check out the full results below:
Main card
Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor via second-round TKO (2:32)
Michael Chandler def. Dan Hooker via first-round TKO (2:30)
Joanne Calderwood def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision
Makhmud Muradov def. Andrew Sanchez via third-round TKO (2:59)
Marina Rodriguez def. Amanda Ribas via second-round TKO (0:54)
Prelim
Arman Tsarukyan def. Matt Frevola via unanimous decision
Brad Tavares def. Antonio Carlos Junior via unanimous decision
Julianna Pena def. Sara McMann via sub (rear-naked choke) (R3, 3:39)
Marcin Prachnio def. Khalil Rountree via unanimous decision
Movsar Evloev def. Nik Lentz via split decision
Amir Albazi def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision