​Dustin Poirier has claimed that Conor McGregor’s injury at UFC 329 was “karma”, as the Irish fighter fell to a first-round loss to Max Holloway.In Las Vegas on Saturday, McGregor was competing for the first time in five years, after his previous bout also ended in a first-round injury: a leg break in a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis time, McGregor appeared to injure his knee in the opening few seconds, as he threw a running, jumping kick against Holloway. McGregor, who turned 38 on 14 July, proceeded to fall down numerous times, before shaking his head and leading the referee to wave off the fight.Conor McGregor dejected after his injury at UFC 329 (Getty)The timeline for McGregor’s return is unclear, but the former champion said last week that the final fight on his UFC contract would take place in April 2027 – a date he may still be eyeing, with surgery due soon.“It couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” Poirier said on the Deep Waters podcast. “That injury couldn’t happen to a better guy. I saw earlier this week, he said, ‘Karma’s a mirror,’ and it definitely is. This guy’s a dirtbag.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPoirier, who was knocked out by McGregor in 2014 before returning the favour in January 2021, won their third clash in July 2021 when McGregor broke his leg. In the ring after the fight, McGregor insulted Poirier’s wife Jolie while sat on the canvas, injured.“I don’t know if it was nervous energy, [but] I don’t know why you would start a fight like that [with that kick],” Poirier continued. “[McGregor’s team] are saying this was planned to start the fight like that. There’s footage of him training to open the fight with this jump kick, but I just don’t understand why you would do that. That’s like a Hail Mary. You’re throwing a Hail Mary to start a 25-minute fight. I don’t understand what was going on with that.”Poirier then addressed speculation that McGregor had entered the fight injured – claims that the Irishman has denied – saying: “If that was the scenario and he knew he was injured and he just said, ‘It’s either me or him the first minute, somebody’s going to fall, I’m going to just go out there and get in his face and throw until one of us goes down,’ wouldn’t you do it with punches? Why would you do it with an injured weapon?McGregor seemed to hurt himself with his opening strike (Reuters)“I’ve just had a lot of time with Conor over the past 12 years and I just don’t think he’s a quitter like that. I don’t know if that’s possible with him. If he wanted a built-in excuse, a storyline that’s already wrote itself and he can blame it on his leg, do something dumb, I don’t know if he’s that type of guy.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I’ll say a lot of bad stuff about him, but a quitter, I’m not sure. He’s a real competitor and wants to win, and I doubt he needed the