Conor McGregor suffered a devastating defeat in his long-awaited return to the UFC’s lightweight division on Sunday morning, a loss which has all but ended his hopes of a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Notorious returned to the weight class he once ruled in the early hours of the morning for a rematch with Dustin Poirier, which headlined UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi.
But the UFC’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion was given a rude welcome back to the division by the former interim king, suffering a second-round TKO loss.
McGregor, 32, came out aggressive early, landing two big left hands flush on the chin of his old featherweight rival.
Poirier took them well, though, and responded with two leg kicks before dipping levels and landing a beautiful double leg takedown.
McGregor managed to work his way back up to his feet and then forced Poirier up against the fence, where he landed two big shoulder strikes in the clinch.
Eventually, they separated and McGregor went to work, landing another straight left before stunning Poirier with a shovel right hook.
Poirier soon reversed position and began to work the former double champ with a prolonged single-leg takedown attempt.
McGregor defended well and reversed the position again, landing another shoulder strike on the chin of The Diamond.
Poirier immediately went on the defensive, which invited more pressure from The Notorious. (Metro)