Conor McGregor had ankle injury during training camp for UFC 264, confirms coach

UFC superstar Conor McGregor injured his ankle during his training camp for his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier, says his coach.

Coach John Kavanagh spoke to UFC reporter Laura Sanko on Sunday, the day after McGregor lost via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) to Poirier in the main event of UFC 264. According to McGregor’s longtime coach, the Irishman suffered an ankle injury during his training camp and even recently had a scan on it, but ultimately he was cleared to fight.

John Kavanagh confirms Conor McGregor had an ankle injury in camp before #UFC264. Via @laura_sanko pic.twitter.com/Uhjprj4rr1

— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) July 11, 2021

“A little bit of that ankle injury had been aggravated during the camp. We’d gotten a scan on it. Did that have a small part to play in weakening (his ankle)? I don’t know,” Kavanagh said of McGregor.

“We were with (an orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles) a couple of weeks ago to get a scan on the ankle. They say when you look at an MRI or cat scan, it’s perfect, but they say it’s more like listening to an engine. A very skilled mechanic can maybe pick up something, but it’s not until you open up that you see something. There might have been something in there. It seems unsuaul that a young, healthy, fit man can wrap his foot around an elbow without there being something there before. But you can play those sorts of guessing games all day long.”

The loss to Poirier was McGregor’s second straight defeat to his rival and his third loss in his last four fights. McGregor had surgery on his broken ankle and the hope is that he can make a full recovery and get back into the Octagon to compete again. Despite losing twice to Poirier, McGregor is still a huge draw and the fans surely want to see him fight again.

What do you think is next for Conor McGregor after breaking his ankle against Dustin Poirier?