Conor McGregor isn't ready to accept failure just yet. The Irishman remains adamant that had he not broken his leg, he would've gone on to beat Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC 264.
After undergoing a three-hour surgery following a nasty leg break at UFC 264, Conor McGregor took to Instagram to suggest he had Poirier reeling from his strikes during the fight. McGregor shared images of Poirier touching the top of his head, perhaps implying 'The Diamond' was checking for bleeding in the immediate aftermath of the fight.
Conor McGregor also shared a video clip showing him hitting Poirier with some meaty elbow strikes from the bottom during their fight. According to McGregor, these strikes took their toll on 'The Diamond'. So much so that he kept on touching his head even after the fight and during post-fight interviews.
See the images below:
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![Conor McGregor posted a series of images of Dustin Poirier](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=190 190w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=720 720w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=640 640w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/98ef9-16260897673007-800.jpg 1920w)
![With no caption, the images seemed to suggest Poirier was still reeling from the fight](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=190 190w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=720 720w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=640 640w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b3b10-16260897899857-800.jpg 1920w)
![While Porier seemed fine, McGregor seems to believe 'The Diamond' was severely damaged](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=190 190w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=720 720w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=640 640w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/c57da-16260898130026-800.jpg 1920w)
![The Irishman was perhaps implying that his elbows did more damage than Poirier's](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=190 190w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=720 720w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=640 640w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/b7983-16260898721079-800.jpg 1920w)
Conor McGregor also downplayed the extent of the damage he sustained from Poirier's ground-and-pound in the fight. In the same set of stories, Conor McGregor claimed he had a couple of scratches on his ear from the ground-and-pound but wasn't badly hurt at all.
Conor McGregor scoffs at Dustin Poirier for celebrating 'illegitimate' win at UFC 264
Conor McGregor claimed that Dustin Poirier had nothing to do with him breaking his leg at UFC 264. Calling Poirier's TKO win via doctor's stoppage 'illegitimate', McGregor vowed to dust himself off and come back stronger than ever.
"Dustin, you can celebrate your illegitimate win all you want. But, you done nothing in there. That second round would've shown all. And, you know, onwards and upwards we go, team. We dust ourselves off, we build ourselves back, and we come back better than ever. Let's go, team!" - Conor McGregor said.
Conor McGregor also thanked fans for turning up in large numbers at UFC 257. He said the first round was full of back-and-forth action and that he wanted to come out for the second round going in for the kill. However, it wasn't meant to be because of a clean break in the Irishman's tibia.
"What's up, fight fans? 'The Notorious' here. Just out of the surgery room. Everything went [according] to plan. Everything went perfect. I'm feeling tremendous. We got six weeks on the crutch, now. And then, we begin to build back. I want to thank all the fans all around the world for your messages of support. I hope you all enjoyed the show. I want to thank all the fans in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena, 21,800 fans in attendance. The place was absolutely electric. It was a hell of a first round. It would've been nice to get into the second round and then, you know, to 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." - McGregor said in his video.