Not only did President Donald Trump arrive unexpectantly at the Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena for the much anticipated McGregor-Poirier UFC rematch, there were rather loud cheers of “USA!” and “Trump!” reverberating off the walls.
The president even had himself a ringside seat to catch all the action between Ireland’s Conor McGregor and Louisiana Cajun Dustin Poirer. But as usual, there are always ups and downs.
Those in attendance may feel cheated due to the match barely lasting until the final seconds of the first round, but the fight did end in the most UFC-ish way possible.
Reminiscent of the cringe-worthy leg snapping of the Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann back in 1985, McGregor’s fracture is easily at least as difficult to watch.
As reporter Keith Griffith of Britain’s Daily Mail noted;
The main event ended quickly and in dramatic fashion, when McGregor horrifically broke his ankle at the end of round one, leaving him screaming in agony and unable to get up.
On Saturday night McGregor was seeking revenge in the fight after being soundly beaten by Poirier less than six months ago.
But it was not to be had, after McGregor badly injured his left ankle in the closing seconds of the first round.
The fight was stopped after the first-round bell when McGregor (22-6) was unable to continue. The biggest star in mixed martial arts never got up after falling to the canvas following a final-minute blow by Poirier (28-6), who will get the UFC’s next lightweight title shot.
Poirier said he thought McGregor’s leg broke when he checked one of McGregor’s kicks earlier in the fight.
‘I felt something, for sure,’ Poirier said. ‘He fractured it on one of the kicks at the beginning of the fight, and then he broke it.’
Personally, I’m not much of a McGregor fan, but knowing that he fractured his leg early in the round and still stayed in the octagon until if completely snapped roughly four minutes later… that’s pretty tough.
#Ufc246 CONOR MCGREGOR’S ANKLE/LEG SNAPS pic.twitter.com/aufRtQLtaY
— Hamzah_HM22🇵🇸 (@mahmoodhamzah22) July 11, 2021