Conor McGregor underwent three hours of surgery on Sunday, less than 24 hours after suffering a “clean” break of his left shinbone during a devastating UFC defeat to American brawler Dustin Poirier.
Doctors revealed that McGregor broke his left tibia and fibula bones in the opening round of the non-title lightweight bout in Las Vegas.
McGregor said in a video message posted on social media that he expects to be on crutches for six weeks before eventually making a return.
“Conor is in recovery after 3 hours of surgery,” McGregor’s agent Audie Attar said. “The surgery was successful repairing fractures of his tibia and fibula.”
He added doctors were “confident that with time he will make a full recovery. We anticipate his return to the octagon.”
Poirier overpowered McGregor on Saturday at T-Mobile arena, winning their trilogy fight by a TKO after the Irishman snapped his left leg in the waning seconds of the opening round.
The fight was officially ruled as a “doctor’s stoppage” at the end of the first round after a bloodied McGregor swung and missed a punch then stumbled backwards, his lower leg grotesquely buckling under him near the edge of the octagon.
Poirier then pounced on McGregor, raining down a series of punches and elbows as the bell sounded to end the round. It was the second time Poirier had beaten McGregor in six months.
The scheduled five-round rubber match was expected to settle the score and complete the trilogy between the former two-weight UFC champ McGregor and his longtime rival Poirier, who now looks set to get a shot at an undisputed title and establish himself as one of the sport’s superstars.
