"No serious damage" - John Kavanagh gives an update on Conor McGregor's leg injury after UFC 257 loss

Coach John Kavanagh has said that Conor McGregor will take some days to recover his leg fully following the shocking defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.

Conor McGregor was defeated via technical knockout in the second round after Poirier connected a sequence of punches to the Irishman's head. It was Conor McGregor's third loss of his career with the promotion.

Poirier's constant low kicks profoundly hurt Conor McGregor's leg at the UFC 257 main event. Kavanagh, the head coach and founder of Straight Blast Gym - where Conor McGregor trains, revealed to ESPN's Ariel Helwani that there's no severe damage made to the peroneal nerve.

"Yeah, the leg is okay. It's going to be a couple of days before he's walking without any hindrance. But there's no serious damage to the peroneal nerve that goes down there on that side of the leg, which was kicked a number of times. It was completely dead. And then the leg started filling up with blood [as well as the movement] restriction, so he couldn't move on it at all."

Kavanagh then explained that this type of damage is becoming a recurrent injury in MMA fights.

"Ironically, I've actually tweeted about this particular injury. It's popping up its head in a few different MMA fights. It happened with [Michael] Chandler in one of his fights of Bellator. It's called a 'drop flush' - where you just actually can't send a signal down to your foot. You can't move it. And then it's pretty miserable."

Those @DustinPoirier leg kicks were no joke!Conor McGregor limps out of the arena after #UFC257 😳 pic.twitter.com/rGNm4wzD3N

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) January 24, 2021

When will Conor McGregor compete again?

UFC 257 Poirier v McGregor: Weigh-Ins

According to coach John Kavanagh, Conor McGregor should be ready to get back to action as soon as May 2021. Kavanagh revealed that "The Notorious One" has already done some exercises since the fight and will return to his regular training routine sometime next week.

"There's no bone damage. It was part of my conversation with him during the fight: 'It is not the [Max] Holloway fight. There's no destroyed ligament here. This is a sore leg, and it will pass.' I'd say that in seven to ten days maximum, he will be back at full training. [He should be able to fight again] in May."

Regarding whether Conor McGregor's next fight would be a rematch with Dustin Poirier or a boxing bout, Kavanagh left the possibilities open.

"But, as of today, [Conor McGregor]'s in good form. He did a very tough workout this morning, and he's already looking for the next date, which we hope to get sooner rather than later. He was pressing for a busy 2020, and nothing has changed: He wants a busy 2021. So, I hope we can get the rematch - that would be the ideal. And if it's not that, then I'm not sure what it would be. Whether it's a different MMA fight or a boxing fight... I'm not too sure about that."

Conor McGregor: "I'll adopt a different approach for the trilogy with Dustin, because those leg kicks are not to be messed with. That calf kick, that low calf kick, I've never experienced that." #UFC257

— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) January 24, 2021

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