Manny Pacquiao praises Dustin Poirier for Conor McGregor at UFC 257, which leaves Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch plan in tatters

Manny Pacquaio heaped praise on Dustin Poirier for the seismic upset he caused when he knocked out Conor McGregor at UFC 257 on Fight Island.

McGregor had high hopes of facing the boxing legend in the ring at some point this year and was also keen on luring Khabib Nurmagomedov into a rematch, but both dreams are seemingly now in tatters.

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McGregor had beaten Poirier inside two minutes in September 2014 and was the overwhelming favourite to do the double in the lightweight bout in a bid to get old foe Nurmagomedov to reverse his retirement.

But Poirier survived some cagey moments in the first round and began to gain the ascendancy with some savage leg kicks in the second before a flurry of punches sent McGregor down to the canvas.

Poirier followed up with a couple of vicious blows on a defenceless McGregor, leading referee Herb Dean to wave off the fight after just two minutes and 32 seconds of the second round.

Pacqauio tweeted almost instantly: “Beautiful thing about the fight game, anything can happen! Congrats to Dustin Poirier, huge win!”

Afterwards, McGregor told talkSPORT the Pacquiao fight was set, but he's not sure now and it seems unlikely he will face an eight-weight boxing champion anytime soon.

The plan is to 'regroup' first before making any decision on his next move, though it could be a trilogy with either Poirier or Nate Diaz.

UFC president Dana White had hoped to make the rematch with Khabib, but revealed his conversation with the lightweight champion makes that seem unlikely, too.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference, White said: "I just spoke to Khabib. He said 'Dana be honest with yourself, I'm so many levels above [Poirier and McGregor].’

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“It doesn't sound very positive.”

Pacquiao is now being lined up boxing's rising star Ryan Garcia.

After his big win over Luke Campbell at the start of the month, Garcia demanded a showdown with fellow top talent Gervonta Davis.

However, he’s since suggested he could have a bigger fight in the pipeline.

Garcia previously teased in an interview: “I have a potential, huge, bigger fight than him [Davis], so I might pin him off to the side.

“You know, I’m still going to fight him. But I wouldn’t not fight him unless it was an even bigger opportunity.

“But I can’t say anything right now, so I’m just going to keep it at that.”

And in an exclusive chat with Fight Night on talkSPORT, he heaped praise on the legend.

“I’m trying to be a good example as a champion to this younger generation.

“I think that’s been missing a long time, other than Manny Pacquiao as a great example.

“Once you get to the top, people like to forget how they got there and they don’t share their stories and they don’t give glory to God.

“I will stay true to myself and try to be the best example I can be for the younger generation.”