Conor McGregor is in the clear after initial reports of a broken foot have been proven false.
‘The Notorious’ caused plenty of concern when he was seen limping around the T-Mobile Arena on crutches after his UFC 202 victory over Nate Diaz.
In the immediate aftermath of his majority decision triumph, rumours circulated that McGregor had broken his foot in one of the many leg kicks to Diaz but he quickly clarified that it was a shin injury and not a break to his foot that was troubling him.
And after a trip to hospital on Saturday night, McGregor was given the all clear.
“It’s a bad bruise and it’s very, very painful but there’s no damage,” SBG head coach John Kavanagh said on the MMA Hour.
Despite winning by majority decision, Conor McGregor left the ring in crutches pic.twitter.com/0V0z5dkQYo
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) August 21, 2016
McGregor landed 40 kicks to the leg of Diaz throughout the 25 minutes and the point of impact was clear to see on the Irishman’s shin but Kavanagh explained that they were prepared to suffer through a sore leg if it meant claiming victory.
“He never mentioned it [that he was injured] but I saw,” Kavanagh continued.
“If I remember correctly, in the third round there were one or two where Nate did turn his knee out and started checking them. And the range was a little bit wrong so he was kind of slapping with the foot and caught Nate’s knee. I just remember seeing that but I knew with adrenaline and with his mindset, it wasn’t going to make a difference.
“His shin could be clean snapped and he wasn’t going to stop for the five rounds.
“We discussed it as well. He knew he was going to bang up his left leg. That was going to be the sacrifice. It was going to be a bruised leg but victorious.”
There was also word that McGregor had been carrying an injury into the rematch with Diaz and Kavanagh went on to explain that a post-fight scan revealed a fracture to the ankle of the UFC featherweight champion.
He said: “We got an x-ray and there was a preexisting fracture on his ankle which he’s been carrying for a long time – many, many months.
“He never got a cast on it. He never got it fixed. There was a fracture but it was old.”
On the latest GAA Hour we look back at Mayo-Tipperary and chat to Andy Moran about his incredible, never-ending career. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
