UFC boss Dana White has said that Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will meet for a fourth time after their trilogy fight at the T-Mobile Arena ended early when the Irishman suffered a broken leg at the end of the first round.
McGregor's left leg was in a protective cast as he was wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher and brought to a local hospital, where White said he would be operated on Monday (NZ time).
"It sucks, it's brutal, it's not the way you want to see fights end. Dustin Poirier will fight for the title and when Conor is healed and ready to go, you do the rematch, I guess," White told a news conference.
McGregor and Poirier fought at a frenetic pace during the first five-minute frame before doctors called a halt due to McGregor's leg break.
Poirier, who was already the number one contender for the lightweight title, will now meet Brazilian Charles Oliveira, who won the belt in May when he defeated Michael Chandler.
The UFC 264 lightweight match-up was supposed to bring what had become a bitter rivalry to an end, but White said the pair still had unfinished business in the cage.
"The fight didn't get finished. You can't have a fight finish that way. We'll see how the whole thing plays out. I mean, who knows how long Conor is out? Poirier will do his thing until Conor is ready."
Former United States President Donald Trump was among the 20,062 fans in a sold-out T-Mobile Arena that heard McGregor launch an expletive-ridden post-fight tirade at Poirier, insulting the American's wife in the process.
"I don't like that. That's not good. Leave people's families and wives and all that stuff out of it.
"Family has nothing to do with it," White said.
Reuters
