Mournful Conor McGregor: I’m not cut, I’m simply heartbroken

They needed more than just a pat on the back. A whole lot more. But it was a start.

Holly Holm and Conor McGregor had ended 2015 on top of their respective worlds. In the space of three hectic UFC weeks last November and December, they both claimed maiden world titles. On Saturday night they were paired up as the co-headliners of UFC 196 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Preacher’s Daughter and The Notorious, they made for one of the more unlikely couplings in the sport of combat.

Pushed together by their employers, in the end they were only finally brought together by mutual trauma.