Conor McGregor

UFC president Dana White told TMZ Sports that Conor McGregor is out of the hospital after undergoing surgery for a broken tibia and fibula following his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC  264. 

"I think they just released him right now from the hospital about 10, 15 minutes ago," White said. "He'll be in [Los Angeles] for a little while. I don't know if he's gonna fly home, or what he's gonna do. ... He'll be back in a year."

McGregor, who turned 33 on Wednesday, suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in his career with consecutive defeats at the hands of Poirier. 

TMZ previously reported Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery at Cedars-Sinai in Southern California on Sunday, just hours after McGregor's defeat. The Irishman required an intramedullary rod in the tibia while a plate and screws were attached to his fibula. 

While McGregor isn't expected back in the Octagon anytime soon, his eventual return may find him facing off against Poirier for a fourth time. White said he's open to the idea of a third rematch after McGregor's leg broke at the end of the first round while evading an advance from Poirier. 

An irate McGregor sat on the mat demanding the judges rule the fight a doctor's stoppage, which turned out to be the case. 

“It sucks,” White said at the post-UFC 264 press conference. “It’s brutal. It’s not the way you want to see fights end. Dustin Poirier will fight for the title, and when Conor is healed and ready to go, you do the rematch, I guess. I don’t know.”

It's unclear what a timeline for McGregor's return to training could look like. 

After White's comments to TMZ on Wednesday, the UFC's one-time biggest draw won't be able to fight for at least a year. If his return doesn't feature Poirier, it remains to be seen who will be willing to face him. 

Jake Paul was dismissive of a possible fight with Conor McGregor, alluding to McGregor's three defeats in his last four fights.

"Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor would be one of the biggest pay-per-views in the history of boxing," he said Wednesday on Undisputed. "But look, man. I don't wanna fight losers. The guy keeps on losing. His act is being exposed."

McGregor's stock is undoubtedly sliding. He has one victory since 2016, and it came against an overmatched Donald Cerrone in what was largely a tuneup fight.

Now, he has to recover from a major leg injury, which raises obvious questions about his future. In addition, one big issue with being a notorious trash talker is that the act can become tiresome when the fighter is no longer capable of backing up their big words.

That said, Paul may just have been posturing and needling somebody he has antagonized multiple times already. This is the same person who commissioned what he said was a $100,000 chain to make fun of McGregor (warning: language NSFW):

For now, Paul will focus on his boxing fight with former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley on Aug. 29.

Should the 24-year-old prevail, he'd be in line to take another step up in terms of competition. McGregor would be a natural foil given the commercial possibilities and their shared animosity.

Assuming McGregor would be on board, Paul might have to change his tune.

Even WWE legend Kurt Angle is piling on Conor McGregor following McGregor's first-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier due to a leg injury.

The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion fractured his tibia and fibula when he stepped awkwardly in the Octagon at UFC 264.

Angle is no stranger to suffering a major injury during a sporting event as he battled herniated discs, two cracked vertebrae and four pulled neck muscles during his run to a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Throughout his wrestling career, the 52-year-old was quick to remind fans of the adversity he overcame in Atlanta.

It would appear Angle doesn't have much sympathy for McGregor's plight at the moment.

American YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul said he will be sending his custom "sleepy" Conor McGregor chain to lightweight MMA fighter Dustin Poirier to auction off for his charity, The Good Fight Foundation, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.

Paul posted an image of the chain on Twitter on Sunday:

Poirier defeated McGregor via first-round TKO (doctor's stoppage) at UFC 264 on Saturday. Six months earlier, he took down McGregor by second-round TKO, leading to images of McGregor appearing to be asleep on the side of the Octagon.

"It's real," Paul said, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi. "I'm hoping [Poirier] takes a picture with it. I think that'd be the most legendary thing and make Conor look so stupid."

Robert Roveta, Poirier's manager, told Raimondi that Paul and Poirier agreed to the deal but that the chain has not been received by the latter fighter yet.

Poirier made reference to the moment during their UFC 264 pre-fight press conference:

Paul and McGregor have their own history, with the two fighters talking trash back and forth. Paul has previously challenged McGregor to a boxing match.

For now, Paul is set to face ex-UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a boxing match on Aug. 29.

Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. has continued to troll UFC star Conor McGregor, who suffered a serious leg injury in Saturday's loss to Dustin Poirier.

Mayweather posted a picture Monday depicting McGregor's injury on Instagram:

The former five-division world champion previously posted a betting slip that showcased a significant windfall from picking Poirier to win the UFC 264 main event:

Mayweather defeated McGregor by 10th-round knockout in an August 2017 boxing match for the 50th win of his undefeated boxing career.

Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said in June a rematch was still possible.

"Most definitely," Ellerbe told reporters. "That, right there, is very personal."

McGregor, who underwent surgery on his left tibia and fibula on Monday, had expressed interest in another boxing matchup with Mayweather in a January 2020 interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.

"I'd like to rematch Floyd," McGregor said, calling the first fight a "great experience" despite the loss. "I think we should rematch Floyd.”

Mayweather has shifted his focus to exhibitions since the win over McGregor, facing off with Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in December 2018 and YouTube star Logan Paul in June. It's unclear whether a potential rematch would be a pro bout or an exhibition.

For now, it appears the leader of the Money Team is content trolling the Notorious as he begins his recovery.

Khabib Nurmagomedov didn't mince words when assessing what would happen if Conor McGregor fought Dustin Poirier again following the latter's victory at Saturday's UFC 264. 

"What is gonna happen?" he said during a discussion with Brett Okamoto of ESPN. "I don't think something's gonna happen. The judges gave Dustin Poirier a 10-8. He mauled [McGregor] in [the first] round. If they fight 100 times, Dustin is gonna beat him 100 times."

While Saturday's fight ended prematurely when McGregor suffered an injury, it was clear Poirier was the better fighter in the only round.

He controlled the early stages of the fight, as Nurmagomedov alluded to, and likely would have notched his second successive win over McGregor even without the injury. While McGregor defeated Poirier in 2014, the American has now secured back-to-back wins in the rivalry.

Khabib was among those who weighed in, congratulating Poirier for the victory and saying "Good always defeats evil" in a tweet:

"It's not over," McGregor said after the fight. "If we have to take this outside, we'll do it."

Despite those comments, it was clear Poirier is the bigger title threat at this point of their respective careers. Nurmagomedov said McGregor is "finished" as a top-notch competitor following the loss and injury.

 "Without broken legs, yes, [he could be the same]," Nurmagomedov said. "But with broken legs, he's never going to kick the same. With him, no, I don't believe [he'll return to the top]. Conor have good age [32], but what happened with his mind, legs—this guy is finished, but he's good for promotion."

Nurmagomedov is no stranger to what each fighter brings to the table.

He beat McGregor by fourth-round submission at UFC 229 in 2018 after a dramatic lead-up to the highly anticipated fight and then defeated Poirier by third-round submission at UFC 242 in 2019.

He believes Poirier would have no trouble in any rematch after Saturday's result.

Had Conor McGregor won his main event fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on Saturday, this article might well be about him challenging the UFC lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira, in the near future. But that's not what happened.

Instead, the sport's biggest star was brutalized and ultimately beaten when his tibia broke in the waning moments of the first round. It was a chaotic scene, comparable to the death of a star in the celestial sense, except that it was pain, anger and confusion that burst forth instead of superheated matter.

"You've got to be kidding me," UFC commentator Joe Rogan said as the replay showed McGregor's ruined left ankle folding under the weight of a backward step.

After this grisly setback, which reduced McGregor's UFC lightweight record to a hideous 1-3, the former champ-champ's first priority will be a long and undeniably painful recovery. Once his injury begins to mend, he will inevitably begin to plot his next move, and when he does, he will most likely be disappointed.

The unfortunate reality is that the Irishman is suddenly short on options.

That's not to say he's completely without them. He could partake in a tiebreaking trilogy with Nate Diaz, which will seemingly do big business whenever it's booked. However, Diaz has always been difficult to coax into the Octagon. Between that and McGregor's recovery, which is likely to take quite a bit of time, it's difficult to imagine this one happening any time soon. Even a 2022 date would seemingly require several small miracles to reach fruition.

Beyond that, there's also a fourth fight with Poirier. While Poirier won his three-fight series with McGregor, the end of their third encounter certainly had a flukey quality to it—enough, at least, that UFC President Dana White, Poirier and the Irishman himself all seem determined to revisit the rivalry sometime down the road.

"The fight didn't get finished," White said at the UFC 264 post-fight press conference. "You can't have a fight finish that way. We'll see how this whole thing plays out. Who knows how long Conor's out, so Poirier will do his thing until Conor's ready.

"It's all about timing, what's going on, what happens [between now and] then," White added. "Conor goes into surgery [on Sunday]. We don't know how long he's going to be out, how much rehab and therapy he's going to need."

A potential fourth fight would be a tough sell given the way Poirier handled McGregor in their second two bouts. While McGregor had his moments in both fights he lost, there's no denying that Poirier put forth the far stronger performances. At this point, we all know who the better fighter is. Poirier is also headed for bigger and better things—namely a crack at Oliveira's lightweight strap—and his interest in fighting McGregor may fade as the emotions of the moment dissipate.

McGregor has other options beyond rematches with Poirier and Diaz, such as fights with former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, former interim champion Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov stablemate Islam Makhachev, but none of those men seem like notable enough co-stars for the Irish knockout artist, even at this grim juncture of his career.

Therein lies the real conundrum: The man who only takes the biggest fights available no longer deserves big fights.

Based on all of that, it's difficult to say what will come next. Maybe it will be the Diaz rematch. Maybe he'll get lucky and get the Poirier rematch when his leg heals up. Maybe he'll surprise us all by buckling down and taking on a few lesser-known contenders in an effort to regain his footing. Maybe he'll turn his attention back to the boxing ring, where fights with the likes of Manny Pacquiao and trash-talking YouTuber Jake Paul could await.

Whatever the case, it's unlikely that anything McGregor does will generate the deafening buzz that became customary in his heyday. There are many things that contribute to stardom in combat sports, but none are more important than winning, and McGregor hasn't been doing enough of that.

He may still be the biggest star in the sport, but compared to his peak, he's burning about as brightly as a streetlight.

UFC star Conor McGregor underwent surgery to repair a broken tibia after suffering the gruesome injury against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas on Saturday at UFC 264.

McGregor provided an update on his status on Twitter, noting he was "feeling tremendous" after the operation:

McGregor later discussed the surgery in a Twitter video, which also saw him call out Poirier's "illegitimate win":

Audie Attar, McGregor's manager, said in a statement that doctors are "confident" the fighter will make a full recovery:

TMZ Sports was the first to report McGregor underwent successful surgery.

McGregor, 32, snapped his leg at the end of the first of round of the trilogy fight, which led to a doctor's stoppage in between rounds. It's the first time in McGregor's career he's suffered back-to-back losses—each by way of Poirier.

TMZ noted Dr. Neal El Attrache performed the operation at Cedars Sinai's Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. McGregor (22-6, 19 KOs) is expected to remain in the hospital until the middle of next week.

Surgery was quickly scheduled for Sunday following the injury, according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post.

It's the second straight fight where McGregor has exited with a leg injury. During Poirier's victory over the Irishman at UFC 257, McGregor's fibia and tibia were compromised by unrelenting leg kicks. UFC gave McGregor a six-month medical suspension to recover. Now he'll be out indefinitely once again.

"We don't know long how he's going to be out," UFC president Dana White told reporters. "How much his rehab and therapy he's going to need."

Whenever he's clear to return, White expects a fourth bout with Poirier will be discussed.

McGregor certainly seems like he would be open to that. The MMA icon continued to shout at Poirier from the mat as trainers tended to him, both arguing that he could keep fighting and then calling for the judges to rule the fight a doctor's stoppage.

"The fight didn't get finished," White said. "You can’t have a fight finish that way. We'll see how this whole thing plays out. Who knows how long Conor is out? When Conor is healed and ready to go, we'll do the rematch, I guess. Poirier will do his thing until Conor is ready."

The rehab process starts now. How long it will take is up to McGregor's body.

As Conor McGregor lay hobbled in the Octagon after breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, the Irishman shouted at the judges to rule the loss a doctor's stoppage. Having never lost back-to-back fights until that moment, the former lightweight champion made sure the record reflected the way his trilogy bout with Poirier ended.

Now he may get a chance to avenge the loss—again. 

UFC President Dana White told reporters he's open to a fourth fight between Saturday's headliners given the stoppage. 

“It sucks,” White said (h/t MMA Fighting's Steven Marrocco). “It’s brutal. It’s not the way you want to see fights end. Dustin Poirier will fight for the title, and when Conor is healed and ready to go, you do the rematch, I guess. I don’t know.”

Poirier was en route to a clear win after pummeling McGregor in the first round, but it wasn't until the 32-year-old's back foot bent awkwardly that McGregor's night ended, infuriating him.

That became evident as the injured MMA icon hurled insults towards Poirier while trainers attended to him on the mat. Following weeks of personal attacks from McGregor, even Poirier is ready for a third rematch.

"No, we are going to fight again whether it's on the Octagon or on the sidewalk," Poirier told reporters. "He was saying he was going to kill me. You don’t say stuff like that, that he was going to murder me. You don’t say stuff about people’s wives either, but I know that’s zero chance. But there is a chance someone could die and you don’t wish that on anybody.”

A fourth fight may be inevitable given White's comments Saturday. After seeing McGregor go down, not even the UFC boss was satisfied with the main event's conclusion.

“The fight didn’t get finished,” White said. “You can’t have a fight finish that way, so we’ll see how this whole thing plays out. Who knows how long Conor is out, so Poirier will do his thing until Conor’s ready.”