Conor McGregor’s UFC career hanging by a thread after nasty broken leg

Conor McGregor’s career is hanging by a thread after his loss to Dustin Poirier, and a “fatal error” has some questioning if his time is up.

Conor McGregor broke his leg in his loss to Dustin Poirier on Sunday, but the bigger concern for the Irishman is the fact that his UFC career is hanging by a thread.

Late in the first round of their trilogy bout at Las Vegas’ T- Mobile Arena, McGregor stepped back and his leg snapped and collapsed under him.

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Although he survived until the end of the round, McGregor’s leg was horrifically damaged and the fight was stopped.

Discussion among fans and pundits has quickly turned to whether the man known as the Notorious can recover from this loss to resurrect his UFC career.

Commentators believe McGregor made a fatal strategic error during the fight that robbed him of any chance of being competitive.

Towards the end of the first round, McGregor attempted a guillotine move on Poirier, in the hope he could engage him in a standing choke hold.

But Poirier swooped, using the move to take McGregor to the floor and execute some excellent ground and pound on his opponent, moving the fight heavily in his favour.

UFC commentator Joe Rogansaid it was “fatal error” by McGregor to attempt a guillotine.

“I felt like Conor was fantastic early on,” he said.

“He was landing brutal leg kicks, he was landing good shots, but it’s a fight and it’s a war.

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier exchange blows in the first round in their lightweight bout during UFC 264. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

“Conor made a big mistake, it was an error but when they went to the ground, Dustin was getting off some nasty ground and pound.

“I think Conor was exhausted. Dustin is trying to clinch, he’s trying to take him down and Conor decides to try and get this guillotine — fatal error.”

McGregor’s choice to come out all guns blazing with leg kicks in the first round was another tactical error.

“Whatever happened with the ankle might have been a factor but let’s be honest, Conor fades,” Rogan added.

“He’s not a guy that’s going to fight the same pace for five rounds and Dustin is.”

“It’s always about who gets to the position in the cage that best suits their talent,” ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas said.

“And that was Poirier, there’s no doubt about it.

“He’s a better grappler, he’s better at Jujitsu, he’s better on the floor, on the mat. And he got to the places he needed to be.

“He needed to get in close, one way or the other — close in striking or close when he was on the floor when he’s going to be in a grappling situation.”

Atlas said McGregor’s gamble didn’t pay off.

“It seemed to me like Conor went all in,” he said.

“When we when for the guillotine, he went all. Much like a poker player would say OK this is my opportunity, I’m putting all my chips in.”

Conor McGregor suffered a horror injury.

The loss to Poirier marked the first time McGregor has lost consecutive fights in his career.

Talk quickly turned to whether he would be able to recover from his broken leg as well as the dent to his reputation.

“I saw two guys in there tonight,” ESPN analyst Max Kellerman said.

“They’re both 32 years old but one looked like a fighter in his prime who’s at the top of the sport or near it and the other looked like a guy who’s not that right now and may never return to that.

“The fact of the matter is Connor went from beating good fighter after good fighter on his way up to now.

“Since he fought Floyd Mayweather and made $100 million, he has one win against Cowboy Serone and he doesn’t have another win since then. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

Absolutely gutted to see #ConorMcGregor’s #UFC career take such a nose-dive. In Sports discipline is everything once you lose it that’s the beginning of your downfall.
#UFC264

— Philip Alimo (@alimo_philip) July 11, 2021

Dustin Poitier wants to fight Conor McGregor again. In the Octagon or on the Street #UFC264

— Bruno Reagan (@BrunoReagan) July 11, 2021

However, Rogan completely disagreed, arguing McGregor’s career isn’t in tatters and he will eventually return to the Octagon.

“The idea that he’s washed up based on that performance to me seems ludicrous,” Rogan said.

“Is he done at the highest level? Until he proves himself to be better than what we saw tonight, yes.”

But experts and fans believe the anticlimactic finish to the fight could allow McGregor a path to return to a fourth fight against Poirier as their clash at UFC 264 left underwhelmed fans wanting more.

“These guys don’t like each other man and I can’t imagine a world where we don’t see these two locked in the Octagon again,” Main Event commentator Jon Anik said.

Down but not out: Conor McGregor could face Dustin Poirier agian. Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images/AFP

“It is crazy. We thought tonight would bring us nothing if not closure.

“Even though Dustin feels pretty convicted with the two straight wins, a lot of the MMA masses aren’t going to feel closure on this trilogy.”

UFC maybe catches a break with the circumstances around Conor’s loss.

The leg break prevented an inevitable and ugly stoppage in a later round imo. It allows the many McGregor fans to play that “what-if” card and maintain the illusion that Conor might be a title contender.

— Christian Pyles (@CPyles8) July 11, 2021

Hate to see the hard work, preparation, and build up stop so anti-climactically.

We want to see you back in full form @TheNotoriousMMA. Wishing you a swift recovery.

Congrats @DustinPoirier. Solid execution on taking the 💰.#UFC264

— Geoffrey Woo (@geoffreywoo) July 11, 2021

“It looks to me like Conor has entered a phase of his career where and ending like this may help him in a way because people are saying: ‘Well there wasn’t a definitive conclusion to the fight, in a fight that he was clearly losing,” Kellerman said.

When asked if he was less satisfied with the victory due to the anticlimactic nature of the fight, Poirier responded: “Naw, I beat the guy”.

But McGregor’s first task will be recovering from a broken lower left tibia. UFC promoter Dana White confirmed he will undergo surgery for the injury tomorrow.

“It’s not going to physically help him” Atlas said of McGregor’s broken leg.

"You think about (former NFL player) Joe Theissmann, you think about the football injuries where you’ve seen this kind of injury before and not everybody even returns from that injury. “The first thing you’ve got to think about is how unfortunate that is and how dire that injury can be.”