Conor McGregor should be back to action in a year, according to UFC president Dana White.
Conor McGregor has been released from the hospital after undergoing a three-hour surgery to repair the broken left tibia and fibula he suffered on Saturday night at UFC 264. Toward the end of the first round of his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier, McGregor stepped back after throwing a punch and planted his left foot awkwardly, which resulted in the gruesome break.
UFC president Dana White recently gave an update on the former two-division champion, who is expected to make not only a full recovery, but also an eventual return to the Octagon. White spoke with TMZ Sports and revealed that McGregor has been discharged from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he will remain for a “little while” until he is ready to return to Ireland.
“I think they just released him right now from the hospital about 10, 15 minutes ago and he’ll be in LA for a little while,” said White. “I don’t know if he’s going to fly home or what he’s going to do from there.”
White also gave a timeline for the ‘Notorious’ one to get back to action and it seemingly aligns with the lengthy medical suspension he received earlier this week. McGregor must either receive medical clearance from an orthopedic doctor or remain out until January. So, McGregor will not fight again this year, but White says he will be back by next year.
“He’ll be back in a year, yeah,” finished White.
The surgery McGregor received saw him have an intramedullary rod inserted in his tibia and a plate and screws added to his fibula. He will be on crutches for six weeks before the rest of his recovery process can begin.
McGregor has options aplenty for his next fight, however, it is clear that he wants to fight Poirier for a fourth (and potentially final) time. He immediately called for it while still in the Octagon and continued to do so on social media afterwards. Both Poirier and White have addressed it as being a possibility considering the way the fight ended, but nothing can be done until McGregor has a clean bill of health.