In the first major upset of 2021 in mixed martial arts, Dustin Poirier knocked out Conor McGregor at 2:32 of the second round of UFC 257’s main event in Abu Dhabi. It was well after midnight on the East Coast of the United States, but the surprise was heard everywhere.
McGregor clearly won the first round, even after taking a shot early from Poirier that had both fighters up against the cage. Conor calmly used his position to flip control, punching, elbowing, and even shouldering his way to a series of strikes to get the early point and land some damage. After the first round, McGregor was -455 on the live line at DraftKings Sportsbook.
But when Poirier was able to land a series of calf kicks to McGregor’s right leg, it slowly started to topple The Notorious MMA. He was struggling to keep his balance, and it allowed The Diamond to get in and land some overhand punches that couldn’t be answered. And when a right from Poirier forced McGregor to put weight on his right leg, he fell backwards and took the last blows from Poirier.
DOWN GOES MCGREGOR #UFC257 pic.twitter.com/PQ18QY3Ak4
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) January 24, 2021
Not many saw this coming, as shortly before the fight Poirier was a +275 underdog with just 10% of the cash behind him and 12% of the betting tickets. That made McGregor a -335 favorite.
We’ll have final numbers for what the ending total was and post them here when available. But what’s next for both fighters? Who does Poirier fight now? Does McGregor take some time off? Does he retire? Has Vince McMahon called him yet as WrestleMania is just 10 weeks away?
We’ll all find out soon.
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