UFC 264 Ends With Gruesome Injury To Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier Wins By TKO

The heavily anticipated McGregor vs. Poirier 3 at UFC 264 ended with a graphic injury to Conor McGregor, who fractured his ankle in the final seconds of the first round.

Dustin Poirier was declared the winner by Doctor's Stoppage/TKO.

In a first round that featured a number of hard kicks landed and received by McGregor, the injury occurred when the Southpaw boxer took a step back on his leg foot, causing what appeared to be a clean snap of the ankle that sent McGregor to the ground.

Viewers winced at the sight of McGregor's weight landing on the broken ankle.

With several seconds left on the clock, Poirier rushed in to continue raining blows on the fallen McGregor, unaware of the damage until the round concluded.

Unable to get up, referee Herb Dean and McGregor's corner rushed over to discover the ankle awkwardly detached from the leg.

Starting the fight with a pair of spinning back kicks, McGregor was building impact on his legs throughout the round, landing additional kicks after spending some time holding Poirier in closed guard.

What was a low point leading up to the injury, McGregor's time on his back led to a number of crushing elbows and punches dealt by Poirier. The onslaught of hits had fans on the edge, with Herb Dean also on the brink of stepping in to relieve the overwhelmed Irishman with a stoppage. By the time McGregor got back on his feet, heavy bleeding was spotted on his left ear after the hits from Poirier.

Seeing the much-anticipated fight end with a nasty injury to McGregor could have been a grim note to leave on, until Joe Rogan sat with McGregor for a post-fight interview, which led to an ideal opportunity for McGregor to jaw with Poirier in signature fashion.

"This is not over," announced McGregor, eyeing a pissed off Poirier that was held back by his corner.

When asked by Rogan if the fracture came from a kick check from Poirier as noted by the winning fighter McGregor snatched the mic to give fans a good feeling as to whether we will see these two in the Octagon for a fourth fight.

"There was no check! There was not one of them I checked," shouted McGregor. "Your wife is in me DMs, hey baby!"

With a thrilling start to what could have been the perfect ending to a trilogy of fights between Poirier and McGregor, fans now eagerly anticipate a speedy recovery for the 32-year-old UFC legend as he hopes to return for more fights ahead.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, known rival of Conor McGregor, went to Twitter and sent a congratulatory message to Poirier, mixed in with a slight thrown at the injured McGregor.