UFC commentator Joe Rogan revealed his theory on how Conor McGregor broke his ankle while fighting Dustin Poirier. During the Joe Rogan Experience podcast episode, the comedian explained how the injury might have happened before the fight even began.
The trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier on July 10 came to a shocking conclusion after McGregor broke his foot at the very end of Round 1. Joe Rogan weighed in on the surprising moment during the July 14 JRE show.
According to the stand-up comedian, the Irish fighter’s injury was not a result of a leg check. The Spotify podcast host instead theorized that the break could have happened on numerous occasions, and was the result of sustained damage before the contest.
Joe Rogan explains how he thinks Conor McGregor broke his ankle
While interviewing neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, Rogan reacted to Conor McGregor’s shocking leg injury during UFC 264. The podcast host explained that the star’s coach, John Kavanagh, revealed that the fighter had sustained damage to the leg while training for his fight against Dustin Poirier.
“One of the things that happened in training camp was they think [Conor’s leg] probably cracked in training. And he got it scanned, and there might have been something there but it was hard to tell if it was some sort of hairline fracture. They did their best to try to stay healthy until they could get into the fight,” he said.
Rogan then pointed out that Australian kickboxer John Wayne Parr might have found the moment McGregor’s leg broke during the fight before sharing his own theory. “It looked like [Conor’s] shin was compromised on one of the leg kicks. Not the one Dustin checked. It was probably damaged more than once. He throws this kick, and if you watch Conor’s shin, it kind of buckles there,” the UFC commentator exclaimed while watching a clip of the moment.
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The JRE host added that McGregor then damaged his leg a second time with another kick: “He then throws this front kick. And as he throws it, it hits the elbow, and bam. Now he’s standing on the fracture. He puts it behind him. And then he throws the punch, and when he goes to punch he picks the foot off the ground. Then it just gives out completely. It folds over. It snapped above the ankle.”
He also shared his theory in an Instagram post where he uploaded a video clip of the fight. “This is it. You can see where it breaks,” he wrote. Although Rogan later came to believe that he had hurt his leg in numerous spots after John Wayne Parr shared his take on the injury.
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Conor McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, was critical of Joe Rogan for interviewing the fighter only moments after his leg had snapped at UFC 264. The trainer said, “Let’s say I was pretty miffed at that idea of shoving a microphone in someone’s face at that stage.”
While the Spotify host has yet to address the criticism, he continued to share his analysis of how the Irish fighter sustained his injury. McGregor updated fans on July 11, stating that he was feeling “tremendous” after a successful surgery.