Conor McGregor Reveals “Stress Fractures” Lead To Broken Ankle Against Dustin Poirier

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In a video posted to social media, Conor McGregor says the broken ankle he sustained during his loss to Dustin Poirier was due to “stress fractures.”

“I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. It was debated about pulling the thing out.”

Conor McGregor describes shin and ankle injuries he says he had heading into #UFC264 (via @TheNotoriousMMA) pic.twitter.com/0BgO3lOXpD

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 15, 2021

In the video, the former UFC two-division Champion states, “People are asking me… at what point did the leg break?” Many people were speculating when Conor broke his leg during the fight. What appeared to be an innocuous kick revealed that there were already issues with Conor’s health before the match even occurred.

He says, “Ask Dana White, ask the UFC, ask Doctor Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC. They knew I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. There was debate about pulling the thing out,” meaning pulling Conor out of the fight, “because I was sparring with no shin pads, and I kicked a knee a few times.”

Kicking shins against knees in sparring with no pads can cause serious issues if left unchecked. This is true especially if you have a major fight coming up and have little to no time to rest and recover. 

This method of training clearly left an impact on McGregor, as he explains, “I had multiple stress fractures in my shin bone above the ankle.” He also states previous issues from years of training and fighting had already damaged the ankle in question: “I have trouble with the ankle anyway, throughout the years of fighting all the time.”  

Conor said he had to adapt his game while training with his injury, which forced him to improve his ground game. He says, “It was a skill I developed because I had the damaged leg, and I had to adjust me training.” 

After surgery, McGregor now has an “unbreakable” titanium shin bone. He had surgery to fix his broken ankle, which meant doctors placed a titanium rod in his tibia and fibula. “I’m about to get exactly what I needed,” Conor said, “And what I needed was a titanium shin bone. So now I’ve got a titanium rod going down the knee, from the knee to me ankle, and the doctor said it’s unbreakable.” 

Speaking to TMZSports on Conor McGregor’s return to the octagon, UFC President Dana White said, “He’ll be back in a year.”