Conor McGregor's leg injury photo: How bad was the swelling on it after UFC 257?

If the pictures were anything to go by, Conor McGregor seemed to have suffered a serious leg injury at UFC 257. Dustin Poirier pulled the ace out of his sleeve when he resorted to low leg kicks targeting Conor McGregor's calves during their much-hyped battle at last month's UFC pay-per-view.

Conor McGregor has himself admitted that he was not entirely prepared for the calf kicks and they caught him by surprise. He did try to stop them, but to little to no avail. By the end of the first round, his legs were already red and swollen and seemed to be giving McGregor trouble.

By the 2:32 mark of the second round, McGregor's legs gave way under him as he tried to defend against a flurry of punches from Dustin Poirier. From there, it was only a matter of few seconds before the referee waved the fight off. Conor McGregor had suffered the first knockout loss of his career.

Here is a video of the knockout:

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

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

In the post-fight press conference, Conor McGregor recollected how his legs felt during the fight.

"My leg is completely dead and even though I felt like I was checking them (calf kicks) it was sinking in the muscle in the front of the leg and it was badly compromised and it's like an American football in my suit at the minute," Conor McGregor said during the post-fight press conference.

Later on, Conor McGregor took to Instagram to share a picture of his leg, which revealed the extent of the injury, at least visually.

Image Credit: Conor McGregor's Instagram

However, in reality, it was not as bad as it looked.

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The extent of the injury: How long will Conor McGregor be out?

The post-fight medical reports handed Conor McGregor a minimum suspension of 45 days, with no contact for 30 days due to TKO. He might face suspension up to 180 days unless he can produce a negative report from a right tibia-fibula X-ray of his legs.

As for the initial redness and swelling, that is almost entirely gone, as can be seen in recent pictures and videos shared by him on social media. He is even back to training, and recently shared a video of practicing a new leg kick as his daughter looked on.

Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh also assured in an interview with Ariel Helwani that it was not bone or ligament damage. The leg swelled up because of injury to the peroneal or fibular nerve in the right leg, from which he has already recovered within a week to ten days.