Dana White expressed his belief that Conor McGregor is fighting chronic arthritis in his ankles, which may have contributed to the gruesome leg break the Irishman suffered at UFC 264.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Dana White revealed that Conor had been battling ankle issues for a few years. McGregor even asked to tape his ankle leading into the fight:
McGregor suffering from “chronic arthritis” in his ankles – Dana White
““[McGregor] has had ankle issues for the last couple of years. He had asked if he could tape his ankles coming into this fight and he got clearance to do it from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and then he opted not to tape them.
I don’t know why. He has chronic arthritis in his ankles.
During the first round, McGregor showed some promise but quickly encountered the same ground-and-pound game Dustin Poirier has been riding since their featherweight fight all those years ago.
Although McGregor was finally able to get back up, a few checked kicks damaged his leg, and in the closing moments of the round the bone snapped under his own weight. Doctors intervened immediately, declaring an end to the trilogy, and McGregor left the arena on a stretcher.
As for Conor’s future, Dana White was mercurial: “It’s going to take him a year to recover from this one before he can come back, so I don’t know.
We’ll see. The fight game is a tough game and the kid has cemented a massive legacy for himself and made a lot of money. We’ll see how the rest of his career plays out.”
It’s likely that Conor himself doesn’t know what he’ll do next as for his fight career, with many commentators declaring the era of the Irishman over. McGregor will be out of competition for at least six months to a year, by which time he will be deep in his thirties, with his prime athletic years behind him.
It seems that Conor’s years of inactivity are catching up to him, and it’s entirely possible that the UFC has moved on from his time of dominance. He may once have destroyed featherweight and lightweight champions, but both divisions – and the welterweight division McGregor occasionally slips into – are far more competitive than they were during his rise.
They’re stacked with contenders, all of whom have title-winning ability, and the Conor McGregor the world remembers from five years ago may no longer be able to repeat his feats, particularly if he’s battling chronic ankle issues.
What do you think? Is Conor McGregor going to retire for real this time? Do you believe that he had arthritis going into the Poirier fight? Let us know in the comments.
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