Conor McGregor said he would walk Dustin Poirier “around the octagon like a dog.” Instead, he laid next to the cage with a cadre of medics attending to him while the referee, Herb Dean, raised Poirier’s left hand in victory. At the end of the first round, McGregor threw a punch, but stepped back and landed awkwardly on his left leg, appearing to break a bone. The fight concluded because McGregor was unable to continue. After a week of intense buildup, the hostility between the two men did not ease and in fact seemed to escalate. During his octagon interview, Poirier called McGregor “a dirtbag.” McGregor, still on the ground next to the commentator Joe Rogan, insulted Poirier’s wife.

Source: New York Times July 11, 2021 05:15 UTC