UFC star Conor McGregor claims that he was on track to victory against heated rival Dustin Poirier this past summer before he suffered a grotesque break to his left leg as he examines newly-found footage of the incident.
McGregor collapsed to the canvas towards the end of the first round of his trilogy fight with Poirier in Las Vegas in July, with subsequent replays showing that he suffered a clean break to his tibia and fibula just above his left ankle – an injury which has cast him to the sidelines for an extended spell after having surgery to insert a titanium rod into his leg.
The brash Dubliner, though, has never been one to let sleeping dogs lie and has provided a new analysis of the events leading up to the break after coming across new footage of the event online – and says that the injury interrupted what he says was his clear path to victory against the top-ranked Poirier.
Good angle. Can see the leg was broke before I even stood up. It was broke before the guillotine even. It’s why I went for it. 4 shots to zero here in this clip to close the fight before the injury. This fight was going my way 100%. But big congrats lads hahaha ye right. Rats. pic.twitter.com/Q7DkcKo4ar
Can see the weight in those upkicks he was eating here as well. Which weren’t even the two heaviest upkicks I landed. Where was he going from open guard top here? He not like upkicks thru the face? Elbows down thru the crown? No like? Tough shit, see ya soon.
“Good angle,” McGregor wrote of the footage. “Can see the leg was broke before I even stood up. It was broke before the guillotine even. It’s why I went for it. 4 shots to zero here in this clip to close the fight before the injury. This fight was going my way 100%. But big congrats lads hahaha ye right. Rats.
“Can see the weight in those upkicks he was eating here as well,” he added in a separate tweet. “Which weren’t even the two heaviest upkicks I landed. Where was he going from open guard top here? He not like upkicks thru the face? Elbows down thru the crown? No like? Tough sh*t, see ya soon.
“It cracked from one of my own kicks early in the round. There was no check. Not one.“
McGregor hasn’t yet spoken of a tangible date on which he might return from his injury, though experts have suggested that he is likely facing a 12-month timetable of recovery before he can set foot on Octagon canvas once more – and judging by the content of his tweets, Poirier remains very much on his mind.
By the time that McGregor is medically cleared to return, Poirier might well have a new gold belt around his waist as he is scheduled to take on lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in a little of a month’s time in the UFC 269 main event.
McGregor would surely push for a fourth date with Poirier under such circumstances – with several other tweets in his Twitter spree directly aimed at the Louisiana native.
That’s right, I’m truly nasty in there. He hooked the fence. I grabbed the glove. A fight is a fight. Only bitches complain.
Lol what? Push shots they were from top. Garbage. Zero effect. Look at him post fight he was chewed up in the brain mate. His head was sorer, my leg was sorer, who won the fight? A riddle.
I became a master at fighting on one leg since my acl reconstruction in 2013. I won all my ufc world titles on one leg. It’s why I was able to maneuver thru the fight even tho it was snapped, and not bear weight fully until the very last seconds of the round.
“That’s right, I’m truly nasty in there,” replied McGregor to a fan who noted that he was grabbing on to Poirier’s gloves during the bot. “He hooked the fence. I grabbed the glove. A fight is a fight. Only b*tches complain.”
“Push shots they were from top,” he wrote to another fan about the barrage of blows that Poirier landed. “Garbage. Zero effect. Look at him post fight he was chewed up in the brain mate. His head was sorer, my leg was sorer, who won the fight? A riddle.”
Furthermore, and despite his badly broken leg, McGregor says that Poirier certainly didn’t escape unscathed from the contest either.
“Look at the post fight interviews,” he wrote. “He didn’t know what happened to his head. I dug those elbows into his brain. They change the whole make up of who are, them elbows. If anything they should be illegal ahahahah straight down into the soft spot of the crown.”
Some fans were less convinced of McGregor’s braggadocio, with one replying: “Why were you throwing so many kicks if you supposedly had a foot injury before entering the fight??? You’ve lost touch with reality man.”
“Change the narrative all you want mcchicken burger. We all know if the roles were reversed you’d claim he was on the verge of being finished, just like you were,” goaded another.
One fan wrote: “Still making excuses months after the fight.”
Why were you throwing so many kicks if you supposedly had a foot injury before entering the fight??? you’ve lost touch with reality man.
McGregor has rarely been anything close to a shrinking violet, particular in his social media escapades, but with the results of his last two fights opposite Poirier leaving him not just with literal injuries but also a bruised ego, you can expect a few more of these Twitter soliloquies between now and the time he is cleared to return to the cage.
