UFC 264: Conor McGregor suffers brutal leg break, Dustin Poirier wins by doctor stoppage
- Irishman snaps leg in final seconds of first round, with Herb Dean waiving it off after the buzzer
- ‘Murder is something you don’t clown around with. You don’t talk to people like that. He’s a dirtbag … karma’s a mirror,’ Poirier says
Conor McGregor suffered a brutal broken leg at the end of the first round of Saturday night’s UFC 264 main event, with Dustin Poirier settling their trilogy via a doctor stoppage.
The former two-weight champ missed a punch in the final seconds, before stepping backwards only for his left leg to snap underneath him.
He fell backwards and “The Diamond” swarmed him with ground and pound looking for the finish, McGregor survived the onslaught, but then it became apparent he could not stand up to sit on his stool, with the severity of his injury suddenly obvious, and referee Herb Dean waived it off.
“He fractured it on one of the checks at the beginning, then broke it with the punch,” Poirier told Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “I felt something. He was kicking me hard. It was probably cracked then on the twist and punch [it broke].
Poirier handed McGregor the first knockout loss of his career in January, finishing him in the second round on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi and setting up a lucrative rubber match.
“I can handle the trash talk, there’s no holds bar with trash talk,” Poirier said. “But talk about murder and you can’t come back from it. He was telling me he was gonna kill me, that I was going out of the Octagon in a coffin.
“Murder is something you don’t clown around with. You don’t talk to people like that. I hope this guy gets home safe to his beautiful family.
“Yeah, he did hit me with a good cross just like the last fight. Took some time and was a little bit buzzed. He was putting his fingers in my gloves trying to pull me down. I was trying to tell Herb. He’s a dirtbag. And everyone booing, they can kiss my whole a******.
“Karma’s not a b**** it’s a mirror. He’s said the wrong s***. I’ve been busting my ass, I beat the guy.”
Poirier had to be held back as he walked past McGregor on his way out of the Octagon, as Rogan knelt down to interview the stricken 32-year-old.
“I was boxing the bleeding head off him,” McGregor said.
“There was no check, not one of them was checked. Your wife’s in my DM’s baby. Hit me back on WhatsApp, we’re at the after-party tonight.”
McGregor came out hot, slamming Poirier with leg kicks, but the 32-year-old American tagged him a couple of times before the Irishman went for the clinch.
McGregor jumped a guillotine but then found himself in a tough spot on his back with two and a half minutes left in the first round.
Poirier landed bombs from the top as McGregor defended desperately, and they made it back to their feet with around 10 seconds to go, only for the Irishman to suffer the gruesome injury that will surely keep him out for an extended period.
“Just the thing had separated and I landed on the wonky leg, something similar to that, [expletive] mad this business,” McGregor added.
