Conor McGregor Criticises Dustin Poirier's 'Illegitimate" Win, Provides Surgery Update

Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger - Zuffa LLC

Former two-weight UFC champion, 'The Notorious' Conor McGregor has given an update following a surgical procedure on a fractured tibia and fibula suffered during his UFC 264 headliner against Dustin 'The Diamond' Poirier on Saturday night, after claiming the Lafayette native's trilogy winning performance was "illegitimate".

Taking main event status on Saturday night, McGregor suffered a first round TKO as a result of a doctor's stoppage at the end of the opening round, having suffered fractures to his tibia and fibula in his left leg, after appearing to have initially injured his leg after landing a front kick on Poirier's right elbow. After attempting to follow through with a straight left as did Poirier, both missed their shots and as McGregor shifted weight onto his left leg once more, he was forced to the canvas as his leg collapsed beneath him.

As Poirier rushed in as McGregor collapsed, the Dubliner shelled up and attempted to defend strikes from the top with just seconds left in the round. With referee, Herb Dean separating the two at the klaxon, it then became apparent that McGregor had suffered a leg injury -- resulting in the culmination of the bout, with Poirier declared the victor via doctor's stoppage at the end of the first round. 

Afterward, whilst McGregor received treatment for his injury on the Octagon canvas, he allegedly began gesturing gun signs to his head and telling Poirier he's dead as Bruce Buffer made the headlining bout result official.

Transported from the Octagon on a stretcher, McGregor, as per UFC president, Dana White was set to undergo a surgical procedure on his left tibia on Sunday morning, and posted an update on his official Instagram account following the surgery -- confirming that it was a success. 

"What's up fight fans, 'The Notorious' (Conor McGregor) here, just out of the surgery room," McGregor posted on his Instagram story. "Everything went to plan. Everything went perfect (sic). I'm feeling tremendous. We've got six weeks on a crutch now and then we begin to build back."

"I want to thank all the fans around the world for all your messages of support," McGregor continued. "I hope all you enjoyed the show. I want to thank all the fans in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena, 21,800 in attendance. The place was absolutely electric. It was a hell of a first round. It would have been nice to get into that second round and then, you know, see what's what, but it is what it is. That's the nature of the business. A clean break of the tibia and it was not to be. 

But in the same breath criticized Poirier for celebrating what he described as an "illegitimate" win.

"Dustin (Poirier), you can celebrate that illegitimate win all you want but you done nothing in there," McGregor explained. "That second round would have shown all. Onwards and upwards we go, team. We dust ourselves off, we build ourselves back and we come back better than ever."

McGregor's manager, Paradigm Sports Management leader, Audie Attar provided an update on his client's surgical procedure, detailing how doctors had worked for three hours, addressing fractures to both his left tibia and fibula.

"Conor (McGregor) is in recovery after three hours of surgery," Attar's statement read. "The surgery was successful repairing fractures of his tibia and fibula. His physicians included Dr. Neal El Attrache from Kerlan-Jobbe. Conor's long-time orthopedist, and trauma surgeon Dr. Milton Little from Cedars-Sinai. Both doctors are confident that with time he will make a full recovery. We anticipate his return to the Octagon."