A doctor has analysed exactly what kind of injury Conor McGregor sustained to his leg in his knockout defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.
Poirier got the better of McGregor in the second round after landing a barrage of punches.
But it was calf kicks dished out by the American throughout the fight that had the Irishman reeling, and enabled him to get an upperhand.
After the defeat, McGregor admitted his leg was left feeling "dead", and he needed a crutch as he left the arena.
Physician Brian Sutterer has watched the fight in great detail, and has provided analysis on exactly what kind of injury McGregor suffered.
In a YouTube video, Sutterer said: "As soon as he put weight on that right leg, he was in some serious discomfort. [Poirier's leg kicks] made contact exactly on this kind of lateral aspect of McGregor's lower leg near the outside of the calf.
"Even right away we can see McGregor have some pain here, having difficulty putting weight on that leg. And that just accumulated throughout the fight, so at the end, McGregor's leg was basically dead."
He added: "A kick in this area is specifically targeting something we call the common fibular nerve... it's the nerve that supplies muscle control to part of the lower leg, but also some of the sensation.
"Pay attention to exactly where Poirier's leg is making contact with McGregor's, it's just below his knee. This is where these UFC fighters are trying to strike to have these effective calf kicks.
"The green nerve [in the video] is that common fibular nerve, and what's important about it is how superficial it is, meaning how close it is to the skin.
"A lot of other big nerves in our body are deep beneath skin or deep beneath muscle, and so they're pretty well protected.
"But this nerve in particular is really close to the surface and really susceptible to these stuns and getting injured."
