Former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor has divulged some further information on his criticized decision to hunt for a standing guillotine choke against three-time foe, Dustin Poirier during their UFC 264 trilogy rubber match back in 2021, claiming his left leg – which he ultimately fractured at the end of the first round, was already broken at that stage.
McGregor, a former undisputed lightweight and featherweight champion under the banner of the UFC, has been sidelined from active competition since he took main event honors at UFC 264 back in July 2021, suffering a fractured left tibia and fibula in the opening round of his trilogy rubber match loss to Poirier in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sidelined through injury in the time since, McGregor, 35, is expected to make a return to the Octagon at some point next year, with a welterweight bout against veteran title challenger, Michael Chandler earmarked for his comeback to the sport.
Conor McGregor reveals reason for guillotine attempt on Dustin Poirier
Sharing an update on his fighting future and reflecting on his loss to Poirier once more, McGregor revealed he only attempted an apparent fight-altering guillotine choke against the Louisana native because his leg was compromised.
“Lead hook kick work out of both stances, pre my last fight,” Conor McGregor posted on his official Instagram account. You can see i have the stranding back leg double shin padded and taped up as the damage was mounting on the stress fractures. I wasn’t to be deterred tho. Not then, not now, not ever.”
“Where’s (sic) there is a will, there is a way and praise be to to helio (Gracie) there is a billion ways to win a fight. I didn’t get to let a lot of these weapons go in my last fight as it snapped pretty early on in the fight. I just didn’t bare weight on it till the last few seconds of the round. I developed the ability to fight on one leg when recovering from a full ACL tear years prior so I was able to maneuver around it until the end.”
Conor McGregor prior to his last fight against Dustin Poirier
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— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 2, 2023
“One of the reasons I went for the guillotine was the leg was already broke,” Conor McGregor continued. “I won all of my UFC world titles essentially on one paw. All 3 of them. Heavy is the fight game, only God knows and only God can judge. Anyways, happy days because it’s not broke now. Now it’s titanium. Tick tock yous little bums. One by one.”
Suffering a doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Poirier, McGregor had previously dropped a rematch loss to the former interim champion in January of that year, suffering his first knockout loss in mixed martial arts with a second round strikes stoppage in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
How do you expect Conor McGregor to fare in his return to the UFC?