Photos from Conor McGregor's leg injury at UFC 264

Conor McGregor broke his leg in absolutely brutal fashion at UFC 264. The injury ended his super-hyped trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in a TKO loss for him.

To onlookers, it initially seemed like the Irishman had stepped on his left foot wrong after rebounding from a missed punch, folding the leg in a gruesome manner and causing the break. However, some fans and experts soon started to point out that Conor McGregor might have broken his leg when he tried to throw a teep kick that landed right across Dustin Poirier's elbows.

Neither the fighters nor the referee Herb Dean seemed aware of the injury at the time, but it did not take long for Conor McGregor's leg to give way under his weight.

Conor McGregor's longtime coach and mentor John Kavanagh later said in an interview with Laura Sanko that the teep kick thrown might have been the real reason behind the break, even though the Irishman vehemently denied that there was any check in his post-fight octagon interview.

Conor McGregor's leg after break

Conor McGregor's left leg looked bent and swollen as it was put in a temporary cast inside the octagon before he was carried away on a stretcher.

Close-up look of Conor McGregor's leg post-break

Conor McGregor himself looked visibly in pain, but that did not stop him from delivering his rant at Dustin and Jolie Poirier in a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

Conor McGregor after leg-break

Conor McGregor claims he had stress fractures going into UFC 264

In an injury update video addressed to his fans a couple of days after the fight, Conor McGregor mentioned that he already had stress fractures in his leg going into UFC 264, which weakened the strength of the leg. He also stated that the fight was almost canceled because of that.

Some fans have questioned the legitimacy of the claim, pointing out that the MRI Conor McGregor posted seemed to be of the ankle, while the bones that he broke in the fight were the tibia and fibula.

Nevertheless, 'The Notorious' is in recovery now and has undergone successful surgery. He expects to be on crutches for six weeks before starting to 'build back'.