It didn’t end the way anyone drew it up, but Dustin Poirier can now claim bragging rights in the biggest trilogy in the history of the lightweight division.
In the main event of UFC 264 on Saturday, “The Diamond” spent much of the first round thumping Conor McGregor on the ground before dropping him again right before the bell. That sequence turned out not to be a knockdown but a broken left leg for McGregor, prompting a doctor stoppage between rounds. Post-fight, the scene was deeply unsatisfying for all involved: Poirier forced to settle for a strange injury TKO in a fight he was well on his way to winning by conventional means; a defiant McGregor spewing vitriol from a seated position at the base of the cage; the UFC facing the possibility it will need to book this matchup for a fourth time.