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Don’t expect Conor McGregor back in the Octagon anytime soon.
The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion left UFC 264 with a fractured tibia and fibula after a bizarre loss to Dustin Poirier. The fight was called as a first-round TKO win for Poirier after McGregor’s lower leg appeared to fold under him as he put weight on it.
McGregor has since undergone a 3-hour surgery to repair his leg and said he will spend six weeks on crutches before he starts to build back up.
How long will that take? A year, according to a Fox News interview with UFC president Dana White:
“It’s going to take a year for him to recover from this one before he can come back.”
That’s a long time for the UFC’s most outspoken showman to be out, though it may be a small victory considering there had been plenty of speculation that McGregor’s injury could be career ending.
There had also been some debate over when McGregor initially hurt his ankle — Poirier said he broke it earlier in the fight while McGregor insisted he had stress fractures going into the fight. White told Fox News that McGregor has actually been dealing with ankle issues for years, then revealed something a bit concerning:
“He’s had ankle issues for the last couple of years. He had asked if he could tape his ankles coming into this fight and he got clearance to do it from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and then he opted not to tape them, I don’t know why. He has chronic arthritis in his ankles.
You can imagine McGregor’s future opponents would try to take advantage of chronic arthritis.
McGregor has since vowed to return to the Octagon and said doctors had inserted a titanium rod into his leg from his knee to his ankle. When he does return, he will likely have no shortage of possible opponents, though White has implied a fourth fight against Poirier could be on the table.
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