Injuries are very common in the world of combat sports as the athletes put their bodies on the line, literally. From Anderson Silva to Chris Weidman, many UFC superstars have suffered freak injuries and have broken their legs in half. The latest UFC fighter to join the list is Conor McGregor, perhaps the biggest name in the history of the sport. But, in a shocking new revelation, it looks like there were indications that the injury was inevitable.
The incident took place on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264. After losing via TKO for the first time in his career at UFC 257, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier’s series of fights were poised at 1-1.
Hence, the Dublin native wanted to win the rivalry and took on Dustin for a third time at UFC 264. But the fight ended after round 1 itself as Conor snapped his ankle and could not continue. Did Conor hide his injury heading into the contest? Let’s find out.
What injury did Conor McGregor hide ahead of UFC 264?
After the disappointment at UFC 257 in January 2021, Conor McGregor was determined to come out victorious at UFC 264. Hence, he was hard at work and was putting in some sparring with his striking coach, Owen Roddy. McGregor fights out of the SBG Ireland gym and often relies on the expertise of head coach John Kavanagh and striking coach Owen Roddy.
During one of their sparring sessions, Owen could be seen giving some instructions regarding kicking. The whole ordeal was captured in the 2023 Netflix documentary, “McGregor Forever.” After landing a kick, Conor audibly grunted and it pretty much rang the alarm about the eventual disaster that was waiting to happen. Conor sat down and could not continue his sparring any longer.
His manager Audie Attar revealed during the documentary that Conor’s team was worried about a stress fracture. It made the former UFC double champ go visit Dr. Neal Elattrache, who is an orthopedic surgeon based in Las Angeles. During their conversation, McGregor revealed that his troubles with the leg started when two of his kicks hit delicate spots on his shin bone and his ankle.
While the doctor was less worried about his shin, Elattrache revealed, “Your bone’s bruised on this, You got a big bone bruise here (pointing at Conor’s ankle).” Once Conor expressed that he was uncomfortable with the ankle, the doc added, “What you’re feeling there is the swelling around the bone, here. I have a feeling when you kick, you kick with force, so your leg stops (but) your ankle and foot keep coming.”
Dr. Neal Elattrache revealed in the scan reports that the bruise on his bone was not only because of Conor catching a knee. But it was also an accumulative result of his constant hard sparring over the years. Hence, the doctor suggested Conor pad his ankles to lessen the impact of the blows he may take during his training. Despite their best efforts, the inevitable could not be stopped as Conor ended up breaking his tibia at UFC 264 anyway.
As the fans could see in the docu-series, there were talks of the bout being possibly delayed due to medical discoveries. However, as fans now know, the event went ahead as planned and the fight itself had an unfortunate ending. So what is your take on the matter? Do you think Conor McGregor should have delayed the contest? Let us know in the comments down below.