Don’t expect to be seeing rising featherweight star Conor McGregor back in the Octagon any time soon, he’s just been diagnosed with an ACL tear that will keep him out of action for at least the next 9-10 months.
McGregor had revealed after his decision victory over Max Holloway at the weekend that his knee had popped during the fight which forced him to change his gameplan, opting for a wrestling-based approach rather than his usual dynamic striking.
Post-fight McGregor was hopeful that it wasn’t too serious, but that’s not the way it’s panned out with doctor’s discovering via an MRI that he’s torn his ACL, strained his MCL and torn his posterior horn.
It’s an unfortunate situation for the 25 year-old Irish fighter who’s generated a lot of interest in a short space of time with his impressive fighting abilities inside the cage, and charismatic personality outside of it.
So much so in fact that the UFC have been giving him an almost unprecedented level of coverage in the build-up to his last fight, including video emerging of him being driven around Las Vegas by Dana White in a sports car, having his own open workout session in Boston prior to UFC On FS1, and having the lights dimmed prior to his entry to the Octagon despite fighting in the prelims (which I can’t recall ever happening before).
There is definitely something special about him, though time will tell whether he lives up to his full potential and whether he can bounce back strongly after this tough injury blow.
McGregor certainly has big plans for his future. Just yesterday before learning the full extent of his injury he was openly assessing the top fighters in the 145lb division and wasn’t particularly flattering with his opinions on them.
“Aldo-Safe. Mendes-135er. Lamas-Nobody cares. Cub-OLD. TKZ-Open. Edgar-135er. Siver-OLD. Poirier-PeaHead. Guida-Boring. Lentz-Boring. Koch-?” he wrote on Twitter.
He even had some choice words for Diego Sanchez who’d questioned why McGregor was getting so much hype prior to his fight at FS1.
“@DiegoSanchezUFC You’re the fattest, sloppiest, slowest Martial Artist i’ve ever laid eyes on. I’d go upto 170 to whoop your fat ass. EASY.”
And even after learning of his 9-10 month injury layoff he’s still as confident as ever.
“I celebrate adversity. Congratulations. Your favourite fighter is safe. For 10 months. #AintNothing I’ll do it on my back. EASY!!!!”
It’s safe to say we haven’t heard the last of this outspoken Irish-man!
