Conor McGregor: UFC knew about stress fractures before loss to Dustin Poirier

Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor suffered fractures of his tibia and fibula in Saturday's loss to Dustin Poirier in the main event of the UFC 264 pay-per-view and confirmed Monday he'd underwent successful surgery to repair those gruesome injuries. 

Per Brett Okamoto of ESPN, the outspoken Irishman claimed in a lengthy Instagram video (viewer discretion advised) that UFC boss Dana White knew he wasn't 100% before the matchup. 

"I was injured going into the fight," McGregor said. "People are asking me, 'When was the leg broke? At what point did the leg break?' Ask Dana White. Ask the UFC. Ask Dr. [Jeff] Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC. They knew I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. It was debated about pulling the thing out." 

The 33-year-old who celebrated his birthday Wednesday added: 

"I'm essentially getting exactly what I needed to get there. I needed to get treatment on my leg. I needed to get treatment on my ankle. I needed to get treatment on my shin bone. And I would have never committed to going under the knife unless something like this happened.

"So, something like this happened, [I am] getting exactly what I needed, and what I needed was a titanium shin bone. Now, I have a titanium rod from my knee to the ankle, and the doctor says it's unbreakable." 

According to Okamoto, neither the UFC nor Nevada State Athletic Commission had commented on McGregor's video as of early Thursday afternoon. McGregor is currently on a medical suspension set to run through the first week of January 2022 but could potentially receive "orthopedic doctor clearance" in late August. 

Poirier, meanwhile, is on track to challenge UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in his next bout but could then face McGregor again in the first half of 2022 regardless of the outcome of that title fight.