Conor McGregor's calf and leg injury: Has it healed and how long will he be out?

Conor McGregor suffered minor damage to the peroneal nerve, also known as fibular nerve, in the right leg. However, according to his head coach John Kavanagh, the initial recovery should have taken not more than a week to ten days.

UFC 257 took place on January 23, 2021, which means by now his legs are likely to be much better than what they looked at the end of the fight.

Conor McGregor was admittedly quite unprepared against the barrage of calf kicks that Dustin Poirier landed on his calves. The low kicks came frequent and with venom, rendering Conor McGregor's legs as heavy as lead.

The damage done was enough for the right leg to give away as McGregor tried to shift weight during the climatic striking from Poirier. The Irishman hit the ground, and from there one it was only a matter of moments before he officially suffered the first ever knockout loss of his career.

Watch the final few moments of the knockout below:

Here’s the Dustin Poirier ko again #UFC257 pic.twitter.com/pbGbrHfntg

— Connoisseur of Combat (@ConOfCombat) January 24, 2021

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How long will Conor McGregor take to recover?

The injury was bad enough that Conor McGregor had to leave the arena with a limp. There were crutches with his associates to help him walk if needed.

In a later interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, John Kavanagh explained the nature of the injury and how long Conor McGregor would take to recover. Kavanagh said that the type of injury Conor McGregor sustained was called a 'drop flush', where the affected foot simply cannot register a signal of movement from the brain.

However, there were no permanent damages to the nerve or to the bone, unlike the Max Holloway fight in 2013 where he completely tore his ACL. If all goes well, Conor McGregor should be able to fight again in May.

"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."

When the interview took place a couple of days after UFC 257, Conor McGregor had already started working out.

However, according to the UFC 257 medical reports, Conor McGregor might face suspension up to 180 days if he fails to get a clearance on a negative result from a right tibia-fibula X-ray. Minimum suspension handed out to 'The Notorious' is 45 days, and no contact for 30 days due to TKO.

Conor McGregor recently shared a picture on Instagram, where the redness and swelling of the calf is almost entirely gone.