Tag: UFC 264

‘More than just a chin’: Kris Moutinho hopes for UFC return after beating demons, opponents outside it

Kris Moutinho reveals he wanted to end his life after his UFC release, but has defeated mental demons (and four opponents) on his quest back.

[autotag]Kris Moutinho[/autotag] walked out of the cage. [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and Joe Rogan stood in the winner’s circle and faded into the background behind him.

Blood was smeared all over his face from a half-executed attempt by his cornermen to tidy him up before the official decision. There was no hiding the battle wounds. He wore the 230 strikes he absorbed prior to the late third-round TKO stoppage.

His left cheek sported a gash. A stream of blood dribbled out from his right nostril. His hair was still mostly bright green, but some strands had turned yellow from the red that was mixed in.

As he walked toward the back, fans applauded, cheered and high-fived him in appreciation. It was unfamiliar territory for Moutinho – culture shock, really. Ten days prior, almost none of the fans who attended UFC 264 in Las Vegas knew he even existed. Now he was known all over the world.

In the blink of an eye, he was wildly popular – an instant cult hero of sorts who showed up just in time for the biggest card of the year, on International Fight Week, headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier.

He stepped in on 10 days’ notice to replace Louis Smolka. It was the biggest of spotlights for someone who never sought attention.

“I’m a very shy, introverted person,” Moutinho recently told MMA Junkie. “… I don’t want to be famous. I don’t want this attention all the time and all this other stuff. It was just hitting me so hard and people saying what they say and doing what they do.”

Sean O’Malley and Kris Moutinho

Like most fighters, Moutinho then was given a second UFC bout. He lost in 127 seconds to Guido Cannetti.

Shortly thereafter, an email from UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby rolled into the inbox of Moutinho’s manager, Tyson Chartier. It was the dreaded virtual pink slip.

The ride was over. It was back to the regional scene.

For eight-plus years before signing, Moutinho dreamed of the UFC. It began and ended in the span of eight months. He was back on the outside, looking in, chasing the dream instead of living it.

Feelings of failure grew, amplified further by personal struggles.

Things turned dark, and Moutinho admits his mental health reached dark places.

“Right when I got out, I wanted to kill myself,” Moutinho said. “My life was … I was ready to end it. I wanted it to be over. I was done with fighting. I was in my head and everything and I didn’t want to do it. I was in the worst place I could possibly be.

“… I wanted to end everything. I was in a relationship with somebody else and that was going bad. Just everything else – getting kicked out of the UFC. Getting my ass kicked. Doubting if I was even good at what I was doing. Just living that way.”

Mixed-martial arts and UFC fighter Kris Moutinho, 29, of Milford, and his trademark green head of hair at the Regiment Training Center in Fall River, August 5, 2021.

5467081001p Mil Mma

Weight lifted

Moutinho hopped in the car for the two-hour drive ahead of him. Even if he only got a couple of rounds of sparring in, it was worth it to him.

It wasn’t easy or instant, but slowly the dark clouds of his mental health cleared through persistence and dedication.

When it was most difficult, Moutinho continued training. He showed up to the gym every day to get a little bit better, and eventually joined the New England Cartel.

“We’d ask him, ‘Hey, Rob Font is in camp. Can you come spar Saturday night at 9 p.m.?’ and he’d drive two hours to do two or three rounds with Rob,” Chartier told MMA Junkie. “If the sparring got cut short, he wouldn’t complain that he drove four hours round trip to do two rounds of sparring.

“He was always like, ‘Whatever you need. Thanks for including me.’ He’s an extremely good teammate. He’s the kind of guy you want in the room. He shows up, works super hard, never makes excuses, and says thank you afterward.”

Whether it was the passage of time or some form of karma, Moutinho turned a corner in the gym. He entered a new relationship. Both life and fight things fell into place. With stability, came results.

“Meeting the girl I’m with now and just getting myself back to loving training again, loving fighting, loving what I do, it took a long time,” Moutinho said. “… It took me a long time for me to just be comfortable with myself and know this is what I was born to do and this is what I was meant to do. If you follow the plan God sets out, everything comes to fruition.”

Overall, Moutinho describes his situation as comfortable and it’s not something that will no longer be dictated by wins and losses in MMA.

He’s comfortable doing what he does, regardless of how many eyeballs are on him or what promotion he’s fighting in.

“(I’m) just having more faith in myself and not putting as much pressure on me,” Moutinho said. “I don’t think about this sport as the way I did before. I put so much pressure: ‘I have to do this. I have to be this.’ I’m at the point in my life where there’s things much more important to me. I want to have a family. I want to do things. I have a beautiful girlfriend I want to have a real life with. That stuff is way more important. If I don’t make it fighting, I don’t make it in fighting. Now, it’s just free. I’m just going to go until I don’t want to do this any more, then I’ll go do something else. That’s life. I’m young enough that I can do something with my life if this doesn’t work out.”

Double-edged sword

The loss to O’Malley always will be part of Moutinho’s story – but he plans to limit it to just a chapter and not the whole tale.

The notoriety of the fight works both for and against Moutinho. Which force is stronger remains unclear. He’s exponentially more popular than the average fighter with an 0-2 UFC start and has the street credit of someone who walked through over 200 strikes from the current UFC bantamweight champion.

The other edge of the sword is the statistics show a lopsided outing. As much as the fight might not be a blanket representation of his abilities, it’s largely what’s most remembered.

“The fight we had was great,” Moutinho said. “Whatever. Cool. I got my ass kicked, but we put on a show. It made it a whole lot bigger than it would’ve been if I went and got starched in two seconds. It is what it is. With that being said, it still gave me, even though I am who I am and the attention was a lot to deal with and stuff, I’m a lot better now. I’m a lot more understanding now. … All things come on both sides, there’s good and bad to everything and I appreciate the opportunity that I got.”

Jul 10, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Sean OÕMalley lands a hit against Kris Mountinho during UFC 264 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

One more chance

Through the O’Malley fight and all the discussion surrounding it, Moutinho didn’t learn much about himself or O’Malley. He wasn’t surprised O’Malley went on to win UFC gold and he wasn’t surprised at his own chin and heart. He’s confident he can compete with the world’s best.

“I’m not a perfect fighter,” Moutinho said. “That’s why I think a lot of people like my style even more. It’s the same reason people like guys like Max Holloway. It’s not because they’re just great fighters. They’re willing to risk it and go in there and do things that are imperfect to look for finishes and look to get the fight going. That’s how I feel like my style is. I’ll do stupid sh*t. That fight, I made so many stupid mistakes.

“I walked around with my hands down, just trying to chase a guy down and get a finish. I don’t care. This is my style. I’m going to go out there and try to finish it all the times. I make mistakes. If you catch me, you catch me. If not, you’re in for it. This is the way that it is. I’m just here to put on the best shows possible.”

So now what?

Moutinho admits getting back in the UFC is not a life or death situation, but he’d like a shot at redemption – and feels like he’s earned it. He’s won all four fights inside the distance with two TKOs and two submissions.

And who knows? Moutinho won’t rule out a rematch of what currently remains by far his biggest claim to fame. But above all else, Moutinho wants redemption and the opportunity to show he’s more than a hard-head.

“I want to have my chance to get back in there and work my way back and prove to people that I’m much more than just a chin to get punched on,” Moutinho said. “I can take shots. I can give shots back. I can put on wars. I want to work my way back to my chance to fight him again, if I ever get that opportunity again. … So who knows? I fight the best guys and I’m looking to try to beat them all.”

Conor McGregor says he knew leg could snap in Dustin Poirier fight, vows to return and settle score

Conor McGregor had an inkling that his leg may break in his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] had an inkling, he said, that his leg may break in his trilogy bout with [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] at UFC 264.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) broke his leg at the end of Round 1, but the former UFC dual-champ had previously revealed that he entered the fight with stress fractures in his leg. The cageside doctor waved the fight off as soon as it was noticed McGregor’s left leg was broken, giving Poirier the TKO win.

That’s why McGregor says he was in pain, but didn’t agonize as much as Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva did when they broke their legs because he already saw it coming. He thinks the shock factor contributed to the former UFC middleweight champions’ exhibition of pain after their legs broke.

“Same leg, same spot. I attribute it to why I wasn’t in as much shock as Chris/Anderson where. I knew something may happen in advance. Chris was upset with my quote. Felt I was aiming at him. I was not. If any consolation to my reaction, It was because id a heads up it may snap.”

McGregor spent a good portion of the first round on his back, but was pretty active from bottom, which he says is something he practiced going into the fight due to his compromised leg.

“In my last camp I’d a severely damaged left leg. Many of my sessions consisted of starting in open guard bottom. And staying there. Full rounds remaining on bottom. I was beating people up until they backed away from me. It then translated to the fight. True story. @netflix.”

Currently on the road to recovery, McGregor vows to be back. Although he’s down 2-1 to upcoming lightweight title challenger Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC), he still thinks they have unfinished business.

“Really nasty elbows and upkicks for sure. That or maybe a really annoying blue bottle was around him after the fight, lol. Make no mistake they are not looking forward to what is coming. I will be back and it will be settled. Once and for all.”

“His head was sorer, my leg was sorer. I feel good on that. Not to say his leg wasn’t busted either tho. I had that thigh well minced. I feel it’s just simply not settled yet. Is the fairest response I can give.”

When critiqued on his ground game, McGregor said he was happy with the damage he was able to inflict from bottom position.

“I’m very pleased with my ground attacks from bottom, at present. I butchered dude from the bottom, use your eyes. He backed away from me! I’ve now developed a more ferocious version to Nates ground game. If Nate goes down, no one follows. They won’t follow me now either. Watch!”

McGregor didn’t reveal a timetable for his return, but gave a positive sign last month when shutting down various tweets suggesting that he was done.

[vertical-gallery id=390041]

[listicle id=1704703]

Dustin Poirier says he’s ‘living rent free’ in Conor McGregor’s head after latest Twitter exchange

Dustin Poirier isn’t bothered by Conor McGregor’s latest Twitter antics.

[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] isn’t bothered by [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s latest Twitter attacks.

Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) won out his high-profile trilogy with McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) with a first-round TKO at UFC 264 in July that ended when his rival’s leg broke. Since then, “The Notorious” has been very active on social media, and has taken many shots at “The Diamond” in the process.

The latest exchange came on Monday, when McGregor once again went personal by bringing up Poirier’s wife and more. It kicked off the following back-and-forth between the pair (via Twitter):

On Tuesday, Poirier gave his thoughts on what McGregor had to say. He participated in an ESPN+ Q&A session hosted by UFC correspondent Laura Sanko, and was asked to reply to McGregor.

Poirier said McGregor’s antics and prodding don’t bother him, and theorized it’s a sign of the Irishman handling the fallout and recovery of his catastrophic leg injury very poorly.

“It doesn’t really bother me – I don’t really care,” Poirier said. “When I think about in hindsight, like today I was thinking about it like, ‘The guy’s probably losing his mind.’ He can’t really train. He’s got a hurt leg that he’s trying to rehab. Rent free. I’m just living rent free (in his head).”

Having edged out the trilogy 2-1, Poirier now looks forward to a likely lightweight title showdown with Charles Oliveira. McGregor, meanwhile, recently claimed his recovery is “ahead of schedule.”

[vertical-gallery id=631884]

[listicle id=631495]

Dustin Poirier on Conor McGregor’s pre-fight injury talk: ‘Mentally, I just feel like it’s weak’

Dustin Poirier said he sees what Conor McGregor is trying to do in the aftermath of their UFC 264 trilogy and called him out on it.

[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] bringing his pre-fight leg injury to light is a sign of weakness.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) revealed that he’d been having issues prior to the trilogy bout with Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) at UFC 264, which might’ve contributed to his leg breaking. McGregor posted images of his ankle taped up, as well as an x-ray of his ankle, claiming that both the Nevada Athletic Commission and UFC president Dana White were aware that he had stress fractures in his leg going into the fight. But Poirier thinks McGregor is only offering up excuses as to why he lost.

“Right off the bat, mentally, I just feel like it’s weak,” Poirier said on “THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas.” “It’s weak, it’s excuses, but I’m trying not to read too far into it or go down these days of reading what videos are out and what people are saying, because I’m back home with my family. It’s a win on my record. I know I did what I needed to do in the fight, pre-fight, in my training camp.

“I crossed and checked all the boxes I needed to check, gave it my all and then went out there and – like we’re saying, it’s noise. Whatever people are gonna say or he’s gonna say, it is what it is. I’m healthy, I’m safe, I’m back home, have another win on my record, and I’m still the No. 1 contender, so those are facts.”

With seconds winding down in the first round, which McGregor was down 10-8 on two of the judges’ scorecards, the Irish superstar snapped his left tibia and fibula while stepping back on a missed punch, forcing doctors to stop the fight in between rounds. The unfortunate ending raised questions, but Poirier doesn’t think the injury was the turning point of the fight.

Poirier recalls stumbling McGregor back with a hard shot early, which he thinks prompted him to clinch because he was hurt.

“We threw crosses at the same time,” Poirier said. “I slipped his, and I kind of threw a looping cross that touched him good, and now I know. I saw the same eyes that I saw in Abu Dhabi when I hurt him on the feet. He makes a certain expression, and his reaction is a certain way when he’s hurt, and now I’ve seen it twice. He was hurt before the grappling and him clinching and the takedown and all that. He was hurt on the feet, and I really feel like if he wouldn’t have engaged in the clinch, I think I would have finished him there. I saw the same look in his eyes, and I knew I was a punch or two away from sitting him down.”

After the fight, a frustrated McGregor deemed Poirier’s win illegitimate and truly believed that he would’ve turned the tide in Round 2. But Poirier thinks it’s become a habit for McGregor to make excuses, just like he did in their rematch when he knocked him out at UFC 257.

“There were a lot of excuses in the last one, too,” Poirier said. “He was getting ready to box, he wasn’t focusing on mixed martial arts, he was getting ready to fight Manny Pacquiao, and a lot of reasons. A lot of excuses. …

“If you’re training for a fight, you’re going to go into fight week with something going on. Whether it’s an elbow, a wrist, a hand, an ankle, something’s gonna be busted up.”

[lawrence-related id=644118,644028,640745]

McGregor came out with a leg kick-heavy approach to the fight, where he blasted Poirier with an array of low kicks. So Poirier wonders if McGregor’s leg really was hurt prior, why would he employ such a game plan?

“It’s not a smart game plan if it is hurt,” Poirier said. “Especially where he was kicking. He was kicking not my thigh or my calf muscle; he was kicking at my knee. It was bone on bone. I wouldn’t … even with technique, usually you want to set up these kicks. He was throwing them by themselves. Usually you want to punch before you kick, just to set it up, just to get me thinking about something else.

“He was throwing kicks by themselves, single kicks by themselves directly on my knee. Maybe it was in his head that he needed to come out and show me that he can do it too, because I tore hiss leg up in the second fight. I have no clue what him and his coaches were thinking.”

The aftermath of the fight turned ugly, with McGregor insulting both Poirier and his wife. While Poirier admits he didn’t recognize that McGregor had broken his leg, it became apparent as soon as the round ended.

“That was a little surprising, but this guy will go as far as – there’s no boundaries to this man’s talking and hype and stuff that he would do,” Poirier said. “I was surprised that, with the broken leg, he was sitting there still talking, but the things he said I wasn’t surprised because he was talking crazy all week.

“When you’re in the moment, in the eye of the storm, it’s kind of crazy, so I didn’t know his leg broke because we both were punching at the same time. He went down then I started punching. I didn’t know his leg was broke until the bell rang, and I started walking away. He was sitting on his butt holding his leg, and I kind of saw that his ankle and his leg were hanging. There was no bone there, it was just a flap of skin there. That’s when I realized he broke his leg.”

[vertical-gallery id=632743]

[listicle id=634778]

Conor McGregor’s excuses for losing to Dustin Poirier ‘are very invalid’ to Anthony Smith

“I would say Conor wasn’t any more hurt than Dustin was going into that fight.”

[autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s pre-fight injury claim should be a part of the post-UFC 264 narrative.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) broke his left tibia and fibula in a first-round TKO loss to [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] in the main event, with doctors stopping the fight at the end of the opening frame. McGregor suffered the injury in the closing seconds of the round, which he was down 10-8 on two of the judges’ scorecards.

An irate McGregor deemed Poirier’s win as “illegitimate,” later revealing that he went into the fight with stress fractures in his leg. He posted images of an X-ray, as well as taped-up ankles while in practice, claiming that both the UFC and the Nevada Athletic Commission already knew about his pre-existing injury. Dana White later said that McGregor has chronic arthritis in his ankles, which has given him issues throughout the years. But Smith, a former UFC light heavyweight title challenger and current analyst, isn’t buying McGregor’s excuse.

“Everyone who loses has an excuse,” Smith said on SiriusXM’s Fight Nation. “It’s new for Conor to be like that. I’m not the excuses guy, but in my own circle, all my friends know what’s going on. They know pre, and they know post. Like, ‘I know you’re never gonna say this, but what was going on here? I know you’ll never say this publicly because you don’t make excuses,’ and I’ll absolutely tell my friends what’s going on. You knew that my hand was broken going into the Glover (Teixeira) fight, and I never said anything about it because it’s not an excuse. Glover probably had a broken hand. We all are injured.

“Going into the Jimmy Crute fight, I can talk about it because I won – my leg was f*cked. Totally f*cked. … I couldn’t kick almost the entire training camp. I had this huge, huge hematoma, and I’m lucky enough the commission didn’t catch it, because I don’t know if they would have let me fight. The point of that is we’re all banged up going in. The sport is very hard, and you put your body – the fight’s the easiest part. Making it through a training camp as uninjured as possible is the tough part.”

[lawrence-related id=644028,639748,637269]

McGregor’s leg break might have been a blessing in disguise. Losing to Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) twice in a row should have put an end to their rivalry, but the injury now has raised questions about how the rest of the fight would have played out, despite the fact that he was down big in Round 1. Both White and Poirier seemed open to the idea of a fourth fight, and Smith thinks McGregor bringing his pre-fight injury to light only increases his chances.

“I would say Conor wasn’t any more hurt than Dustin was going into that fight,” Smith added. “That’s not me saying Conor wasn’t banged up or his legs weren’t bothering him or his shin wasn’t cracked up or whatever, but he wasn’t any more injured than Dustin Poirier was, and that’s my perspective at it from an athlete. It’s easy for a fan or someone who has never done it to say, ‘Oh, he was hurt.’

“We’re all hurt. Every single one of us, every single time we fight, there’s not one person that can ever say they go in 100 percent healthy. So his excuses are very invalid to me. To the general public, it makes sense that they people would buy into that excuse, but Conor knows that all of us don’t buy it because we’re all hurt too. That’s kind of how I look at it, but he’s not lobbying to us. It’s to the general public, the buyers, the pay-per-view buyers. Those are the people he needs to convince, but he knows he’s never gonna convince us (fighters).”

[listicle id=634778]

NAC executive refutes Conor McGregor’s pre-UFC 264 injury claim

If Conor Mcgregor did, in fact, compete at UFC 264 with stress fractures, Bob Bennett says the Nevada Athletic Commission wasn’t aware.

According to Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett, he and others within the state sanctioning body had no knowledge of a [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] leg injury prior to UFC 264.

McGregor raised eyebrows in the aftermath of his doctor stoppage TKO loss to Dustin Poirier last Saturday, claiming he competed with stress factures in his left leg, which he broke in the final seconds of the first round as he planted his foot on the canvas.

Without directly mentioning McGregor, Bennett indicated to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the development was news to him.

“If we ever knowingly had information a fighter wasn’t fit to fight, we wouldn’t let them compete,” Bennett said Friday. “It would go to a doctor, and a doctor would make that decision as the expert.”

[lawrence-related id=639748,639124,637269]

McGregor underwent surgery Sunday in Los Angeles and was released from the hospital Wednesday, his 33rd birthday. He made the claim of a pre-existing leg injury Thursday in an Instagram video in which he rode around an L.A. neighborhood on an electric cart.

“I was injured going into the fight,” McGregor said. “People were asking me when was the leg break – at what point did the leg break? Ask Dana White. Ask the UFC. Ask Dr. Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC. They knew. My leg – I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage.”

McGregor’s claim raises questions about what the UFC and NAC might’ve known about a potential pre-fight injury, or if McGregor is being truthful. The NAC declined an MMA Junkie public records request for the fighter’s pre-fight medical questionnaire. The UFC also didn’t provide a comment on the situation when reached by MMA Junkie.

Later Thursday evening, McGregor shared photos on social media purporting to be from his training camp, which show his left leg wrapped and receiving medical attention, including X-rays.

McGregor, who is 1-3 in his past four UFC fights, is adamant that he will return to the octagon. UFC president Dana White said he expects McGregor to be ready in one year.

[listicle id=634778]

[vertical-gallery id=632743]

Firas Zahabi grossed out by ‘narcissistic’ Conor McGregor’s behavior: ‘I don’t know how you guys can be fans of this man’

Firas Zahabi can’t understand how fans continue to support Conor McGregor after all his antics.

Firas Zahabi can’t understand how fans continue to support [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] after all his antics.

The Tristar Gym head coach was appalled at McGregor’s pre- and post-fight antics at UFC 264, where he lost to Dustin Poirier by TKO due to a broken left tibia and fibula.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) used a rather aggressive approach to build up the fight and dragged Poirier’s wife into his trash talk. Following the unfortunate ending to the fight, McGregor ramped up the threats and continued to target Poirier and his family.

“I was really grossed out,” Zahabi said on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel. “I don’t know how you guys can be fans of this man. I respect him as a fighter. I respect his skills – I can’t deny that. But the way he behaved at the press conference was just horrible.”

Zahabi thinks McGregor is surrounded by yes men who are afraid to tame McGregor when he spirals out of control. He thinks his actions were distasteful and he shouldn’t be getting preferential treatment just because he’s a massive star.

“If Conor McGregor has one true friend in this world … maybe he’s just surrounded by people who just want his prestige and money and they just want what they can get from him,” Zahabi said. “But if he has a single true friend in this world, that true friend is going to take him behind closed doors and tell him, ‘Look, the way you’re behaving – it’s stupid. You’re making yourself look bad. You’re embarrassing us, your family, your friends.’ It’s just a humiliating way for a true martial artist, a warrior to behave.

“He’s going after kids now. Now, if that was anybody else, if that was a guy on a prelim card, we would all be like, ‘Kick this guy off the roster. Kick this guy out of the UFC. No, no, no.’ But because it’s Conor McGregor, you can’t say that. It’s Conor McGregor – he’s the poster boy. He’s the one who sells all the tickets. No – there’s no pass for that.”

McGregor is angling for a fourth fight with Poirier (28-6 MMA, 21-6 UFC), but Zahabi doesn’t see a reason why they should run it back again. He commends “The Diamond” for the way he restrained himself and thinks he’s already proven he’s the superior fighter.

“McGregor is so down,” Zahabi said. “He’s so angry and jealous of Poirier. He will say and do anything to try and insult Poirier, try to take away this moment off Poirier. Listen, Poirier has beaten you. He’s a better fighter than you. He will be remembered as a better fighter than you.

“Whatever beef you have there, you can’t take it and start threatening to kill each other and then start threatening each other’s children, team members and whatnot. That’s just animal behavior. Then to say what he said about Poirier’s wife – it’s disgusting.”

Zahabi also thinks that McGregor has an inability to accept losses, which will only stifle his growth as a fighter. McGregor claimed he entered the fight with stress fractures in his leg and provided photo evidence of his leg wrapped up during practice sessions in his training camp.

“I think McGregor suffers from narcissism – heavily, heavily narcissistic,” Zahabi said. “And unfortunately for him, he can’t see that he’s at fault. That’s why he needs a true friend or family member to step in and kind of sober him up a little bit because honestly, all he did was embarrass himself. You’ll never see a fighter behave like this.

“He’s the only guy that even if he loses, he can’t take it. He can’t look in the mirror and say, ‘You know what? That wasn’t my fight. It didn’t go my way. I lost. Here’s what I have to do to improve. This is how I better myself.’ No, no, no – in his mind, ‘It was a freak accident. There was no check. You were going to get a beating in the second round.’ It’s just nonsense. Pure nonsense. Not only has his skills as a fighter dipped, but also his character.”

[vertical-gallery id=631884]

[listicle id=631495]

Conor McGregor shares photos of left leg wrapped, insinuating pre-UFC 264 injury existed

The photos raise more questions after Conor McGregor said Dana White and the UFC were aware of his condition before UFC 264.

The plot thickened Thursday night in regards to [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s lower left leg injury suffered at UFC 264.

Following McGregor’s unfortunate break of his tibia and fibula against Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight, McGregor and his team have stated that an injury was pre-existing, which might’ve led to his foot giving way and snapping in the final seconds of the first round.

McGregor took to Twitter on Thursday evening to share various photos purporting to be from his training camp, which show his left leg was compromised and receiving medical attention. The caption by McGregor that accompanied the first set of photos alludes that other fighters would have pulled out of the fight in his situation.

All you pull out merchants wouldn’t last 13 seconds in my world. My 4 part Netflix docuseries coming soon has the entire bts. I’m gonna title it “Mad Mac’s: Fury Road”

Wouldn’t chance my journey for no ones! The greatest of all time!

The photos show McGregor’s lower left leg wrapped with athletic tape, sitting in an ice bath, elevated, and receiving medical attention, including X-rays. They raise questions about McGregor’s pre-fight medical screening and what the Nevada Athletic Commission and UFC might’ve known.

The NAC did not respond to MMA Junkie’s public records request to obtain McGregor’s pre-fight questionnaire early Thursday. The UFC also acknowledged an email request for comment on the situation but had yet to provide one as of Thursday evening.

[lawrence-related id=638593,637269,636439]

In a video message Thursday morning, McGregor said UFC president Dana White and UFC brass were aware of his stress fractures.

“I was injured going into the fight,” McGregor said. “People were asking me when was the leg break – at what point did the leg break? Ask Dana White. Ask the UFC. Ask Dr. Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC. They knew. My leg – I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. There was debate about pulling the thing out because I was sparring without shin pads, and I was kicking.”

Fighters are asked to provide accurate health information prior to competition. McGregor could face repercussions from the athletic commission if inaccurate information was submitted prior to UFC 264.

[listicle id=634778]

[pickup_prop id=”9523″]

Conor McGregor says he entered Dustin Poirier fight with stress fractures in leg

Conor McGregor says his leg already was compromised going into the Dustin Poirier trilogy fight at UFC 264.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] said his leg already was compromised going into the [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] trilogy fight.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) suffered a broken left tibia and fibula in his TKO loss to Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) in the UFC 264 main event this past Saturday. The fight was stopped after the first round.

The Irish superstar underwent a successful three-hour surgery Sunday and was discharged from the hospital on his 33rd birthday Wednesday. McGregor, who will be spending his recovery time in Los Angeles, took to Instagram to claim UFC officials were aware left leg already was injured prior to entering the fight, which his coach John Kavanagh alluded to in a recent interview.

“I was injured going into the fight,” McGregor said. “People were asking me when was the leg break – at what point did the leg break? Ask Dana White. Ask the UFC. Ask Dr. Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC. They knew. My leg – I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. There was debate about pulling the thing out because I was sparring without shin pads, and I was kicking. I kicked the knee a few times, so I had multiple stress fractures in the shin bone above the ankle, and then I had trouble with the ankle anyway throughout the years of fighting all the time. And I also was wrapping my ankle every training session. I even (did) a lot of training sessions when the ankle was sore – I still wouldn’t stop training.

“I used to just train on my back, and that’s how I developed those ground-and-pound shots from the back. That’s why Dustin backed away when he was on top of me and I was landing the upkicks and the elbows. It’s a horrible place to be in when you’re against someone like me. You can’t land. You take so much effort to try and land shots from your top position, and while you’re trying to do that and losing your energy, you’re getting lumped out by downward elbows and vicious upkicks. It was a skill I developed because I had the damaged leg, and I had to adjust my training.”

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CRWcjgDpIjg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

McGregor says he would have never considered going under the knife, but now he’s getting exactly what he needed – which is a titanium rod in his shin bone. He is set on proving doubters wrong by making a comeback as he eyes a fourth fight with Poirier.

[vertical-gallery id=631884]

[listicle id=631495]

Dana White: Conor McGregor released from hospital, should return in a year

Conor McGregor was been released from the hospital on his 33rd birthday, UFC president Dana White said.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] has been released from the hospital on his 33rd birthday, UFC president Dana White said.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) underwent a successful three-hour surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to repair his broken left tibia and fibula Sunday after suffering the gruesome injury in his first-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in the UFC 264 main event.

With seconds remaining in Round 1, Poirier let McGregor back up from the canvas, but the Irishman’s lower left leg snapped after he missed a punch. McGregor survived the round, but as soon as doctors recognized the break, they waved the fight off and Poirier was got the TKO win.

Speaking to TMZ on Wednesday, White said McGregor has been discharged from the hospital and he’s hoping the Irish superstar can return to action by next year.

“I think they just released him right now from the hospital about 10, 15 minutes ago,” White said. “He’ll be in L.A. for a little while, and I don’t know if he’s going to fly home or what he’s going to do from there. He’ll be back in a year – yeah.”

[pickup_prop id=”9528″]

The operation, which was performed by Dr. El Attrache and Dr. Milton Little, saw a intramedullary rod inserted in McGregor’s tibia, as well as a small plate and screws to repair the fibula. After the surgery, McGregor posted a statement on social media with a six-week timeline for his recovery.

Despite the unfortunate ending, an irate McGregor did not mince his words after the fight. He’s confident he would have beaten Poirier had he not injured his leg, even though he spent a significant amount of time on bottom in the opening frame. Both White and Poirier seemed open to the possibility of a fourth fight, but for now, McGregor is facing a long road to recovery.

[vertical-gallery id=631884]

[listicle id=631495]