LAS VEGAS — He was plopped down on the mat and motionless, back pressed against the corner cushion, an elbow resting over his knee, entirely alert yet utterly stunned. For two, five, ten full seconds Conor McGregor sat there while Khabib Nurmagomedov celebrated, either deep in thought or without them altogether. At the start of their fight—the fight before the fight—McGregor had swaggered into the middle of the ring with his tongue wagging like Michael Jordan. Now it was hanging out again as his breath labored to return.
Thirteen months in progress, dating to his $100 million boxing match against Floyd Mayweather inside this same building, the first chapter of McGregor’s UFC comeback ended in the fourth round at T-Mobile Arena, submission via neck crank.