Conor McGregor says he knew leg may break against Dustin Poirier, vows ‘I will be back and it will be settled’

Conor McGregor knew his leg was compromised heading into his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier, which he said is why he had been preparing ahead of time to spend time on his back.

On Wednesday in a series of messages posted to Twitter, the former two-division UFC champion revealed how his leg had been giving him problems prior to his fight in July, which is why he didn’t overreact after his leg snapped during an exchange on the feet at the end of the opening round.

“In my last camp [I had] a severely damaged left leg,” McGregor wrote. “Many of my sessions consisted of starting in open guard bottom. And staying there. Full rounds remaining on bottom. I was beating people up until they backed away from me. It then translated to the fight. True story.”

According to McGregor, the break happened in the exact same location where he was having problems during his training champ, which is why he wasn’t surprised when his leg buckled underneath him during the fight.

“Same leg, same spot,” McGregor said. “I attribute it to why I wasn’t in as much shock as Chris [Weidman]/Anderson [Silva] were. I knew something may happen in advance.

“Chris was upset with my quote. Felt I was aiming at him. I was not. If any [consolation] to my reaction, it was because [I had] a heads up it may snap.”

McGregor and his camp previously have claimed they had advance notice of an injury, namely a “hairline stress fracture” the fighter said the UFC was aware of prior to his UFC 264 trilogy against Poirier. UFC President Dana White said McGregor asked and received permission to tape his ankles prior to the fight, though he decided not to do so despite “chronic arthritis” in the joints.

Despite his purported leg injury heading into the fight, McGregor felt like he was doing good work against Poirier during the opening round after he was taken to the ground against the cage. While Poirier was raining down punches and elbows, he was happy with the shots he was firing back in response before the fighters eventually got back to their feet again.

“His head was sorer, my leg was sorer,” McGregor said. “I feel good on that. Not to say his leg wasn’t busted either though. I had that thigh well minced. I feel it’s just simply not settled yet. Is the fairest response I can give.”

McGregor then reposted a video that showed the marks on Poirier’s face after the fight, which revealed the damage done from the strikes he was throwing from the bottom on the ground.

While the result will always show a loss on his record, McGregor couldn’t be upset with the offense he was producing off his back and he promises there’s still plenty of unfinished business with Poirier once he’s healthy enough to compete again.

“Really nasty elbows and upkicks for sure,” McGregor said about the damage done to Poirier that night. “That or maybe a really annoying blue bottle was around him after the fight.

“Make no mistake they are not looking forward to what is coming. I will be back and it will be settled. Once and for all.”

McGregor underwent surgery to repair the broken bone in his leg, but he’s been anxious to return as he waits for full clearance to return to training.

While there’s no exact timeline when McGregor will be able to fight again, he’s previously hinted at a mid-2022 return to action, which would essentially mean one year after he suffered the broken leg.