Conor McGregor has admitted he will "not be the same" after suffering an injury long before he snapped his leg last year.
Fans are all aware of the very public broken leg McGregor suffered against Dustin Poirier in the summer of 2021 during their trilogy bout. But it's less widely discussed that he suffered another serious injury ahead of his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, and still opted to compete in the world title bout.
And in a recent Twitter response to a fan who was concerned about him losing his spring, McGregor explained the details of that injury; saying he had destroyed the metatarsal bones in his foot. That bout ultimately didn't go his way, but the Irishman continued to fight and has competed three times since that bout.
"I crushed the metatarsal bones in my foot three weeks before the Khabib fight, and still made the walk. All injuries are not the same. You will see it all on Netflix [where his new documentary will air]. When a serious injury with a high percentage of never recovering occurs, it is just simply not the same."
McGregor appears to be coming towards the end of his recovery from the broken leg he suffered last year against Poirier, and tweeted that only he, Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva know the severity of the injury. He has dealt with serious knocks throughout his career, including fighting through torn ACLs in his early career bouts with Max Holloway and Chad Mendes.
But the one he suffered against Poirier in their UFC 264 trilogy was more serious than any before, and has kept him out of action for the best part of two years. "The state of allowance for athletes to recover from injuries as horrific as the one I overcame must be assessed," McGregor tweeted last week. "My thoughts are with Weidman and Anderson Silva. The three of us, and only us, know the severity of this injury."
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McGregor is currently out of the USADA testing pool, meaning he won't be able to return to the cage for at least six months unless an exception is granted. He believes he will be given that, but the anti-doping agency aren't so sure, telling ESPN that they aren't sure he would be eligible.
"McGregor is not enrolled in our testing pool and would have to be for six months unless an exception is granted, which we do not think would be applicable," USADA director of communications Averi Walker said in a statement to ESPN yesterday. McGregor, however, believes he will be tested just twice from February and then plans to book a comeback. He tweeted last week: "I am clear for testing in February. I will complete my two tests per USADA and we are booking a fight."
