American Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier brutally knocked out the two-weight world champion in their rematch Sunday, on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The first round was scrappy until the last 90 seconds, with McGregor narrowly missing out on a huge left hand. Poirier then landed a big right hand of his own – pointing to McGregor as he did so – before suffering a barrage of punches.
Both men appeared fatigued at the end of the first round, with Poirier’s work on the fence seemingly tiring him out as much as it did to McGregor.
However a series of low leg kicks to McGregor's right leg by Poirier already did the damage, with the immobilized Irishman back on the cage in the second round, unable to move out of the way from a flurry of combination punches.
Poirier attacked McGregor’s lead right leg, before trapping the Irishman on the cage and unloading a barrage of punches.
McGregor hit the canvas soon after as referee Herb Dean jumped in to call a halt to proceedings.
Poirier knew he had McGregor in trouble when a short right uppercut dropped the former two-weight world champion as blood trickled from his nose – before the American moved in to finish the fight.
McGregor beat Poirier inside two minutes during their September 2014 fight at Ultimate Fighting Championship 178.
Sunday's victory is Poirier's revenge. “I think this is a title fight,” Poirier said of the lightweight bout. “I’m the champion.”
Speaking after the fight, McGregor admitted his lack of time in the octagon perhaps was to blame. This is his return to the octagon after more than a year away.
“You know, it is hard to overcome inactivity over long periods of time,” McGregor said. “That’s just it. The leg kicks were good, the calf kick was very good, the leg was dead and then I just wasn’t as comfortable as I needed to be. It’s the inactivity and that is, but Dustin is some fighter. If you put in the time in here, you are going to get cosy in here and that’s it. I’ll have to dust it off and come back and that is what I will do.”
This is the first time McGregor has ever suffered a TKO/KO defeat in his career and likely puts an end to talk of a rematch with old foe Khabib Nurmagomedov. Before Sunday's lightweight bout, McGregor was the overwhelming favorite to do the double in a bid to get Nurmagomedov to reverse his retirement.
However another fight looks more likely, this time against YouTuber Jake Paul.
Paul mocked McGregor in a video post after Sunday's fight. The 24-year-old can be seen laughing with friends, and says to the camera: "Hey guys, I got 10,000 dollars for you in cash! Cash baby! You had 50 million dollars!" before putting his head in his hands.
Paul also attached the caption: "Aye @thenotoriousmma INSTEAD of $50 MILLION I GOT $10,000 for you now. CASH THO!! ALL CASH!"
WATCH the Poirier - McGregor fight, followed by Jake Paul's taunts.