If you thought consecutive losses and a broken leg would humble Conor McGregor, you were wrong.
McGregor on Saturday night suffered a broken tibia, as well as a TKO loss, during the first round of his UFC 264 lightweight fight with Dustin Poirier. The result gave Poirier a 2-1 edge in his trilogy with UFC’s most popular fighter.
After undergoing surgery Sunday, McGregor took to social media to deliver a message to both fans and Poirier.
“What’s up fight fans? The Notorious here,” McGregor said. “Just out of the surgery room. Everything went to plan. Everything went perfect. I’m feeling tremendous. We got six weeks on a crutch now, and then we begin to build back. I want to thank all the fans all around the world for your messages of support. I hope you enjoyed the show. I want to thank all the fans in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena — 21,800 fans in attendance. The place was absolutely electric. It was a hell of a first round. It would’ve been nice to get into that second round and then to see what’s what. But, it is what it is. That’s the nature of the business. A clean break of the tibia and it was not to be.
“Dustin, you can celebrate that illegitimate win all you want, but you done nothing in there. That second round would’ve shown all. Onwards and upwards we go, team. We dust ourselves off, we build ourselves back and we come back better than ever. Let’s go, team.”
As for what the future holds for McGregor and Poirier, it’s complicated.
UFC president Dana White said Poirier next will fight Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight belt. He also said McGregor, when healthy, will get a fourth shot at Poirier.
Both fighters have expressed a willingness to fight again — one way or another.
