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Conor McGregor sustained what appeared to be a serious leg injury as he lost to lightweight rival Dustin Poirier via doctor\u2019s stoppage in round one at UFC 264 in Las Vegas.<\/p>\nConor McGregor sustained what appeared to be a serious leg injury as he lost to lightweight rival Dustin Poirier via doctor\u2019s stoppage in round one at UFC 264 in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
The Irishman, 32, started aggressively by targeting Poirier with leg kicks, but the American quickly capitalized after seeming to hear McGregor\u2019s leg crack during one exchange.<\/p>\n
Poirier, also 32, took his opponent to the ground, where he dominated before the fighters returned to their feet.<\/p>\n
Both swung and missed and McGregor stepped back before his leg collapsed beneath him, sparking speculation he may have suffered a bone fracture.<\/p>\n
McGregor somehow survived until the end of the round when the bout was stopped.<\/p>\n
In a dramatic conclusion to the encounter, their third following McGregor\u2019s victory in 2014 and his defeat in January, Poirier called his opponent a \u201cdirtbag\u201d when interviewed by commentator Joe Rogan after the fight.<\/p>\n
Poirier accused McGregor of pushing his fingers inside his gloves as they were grappling and said he was trying to tell referee Herb Dean about the cheating.<\/p>\n
McGregor made his own claims to Rogan after the fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was boxing the ears off him and kicking the legs off him,\u201d McGregor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not over,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The loss takes McGregor to 1-3 in the cage since 2016, when he left the UFC to take on Floyd Mayweather in boxing.<\/p>\n
With the victory, Poirier has earned the chance to recapture the lightweight title he held on an interim basis in 2019 prior to a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov.<\/p>\n