Dana White Reveals Conor McGregor Suffers From 'Chronic Arthritis' In His Ankles

Dana White has revealed that Conor McGregor has 'chronic arthritis' in his ankles, which goes some way to explaining perhaps why his ankle snapped so easily during his UFC 264 main event with Dustin Poirier.

McGregor suffered one of the worst injuries ever seen inside the octagon when his leg completely broke during an exchange with long-time rival Poirier.

The two fighters exchanged leg kicks early on in their trilogy bout, but when McGregor stepped back and put pressure on his trailing left leg, it buckled under the pressure.

Upon seeing the horrific injury, the referee wasted no time in waving off the fight and Poirier was subsequently handed the victory.

Now that the dust has settled, countless mixed martial arts fans have gone back over the tape and tried to pinpoint exactly when McGregor sustained the injury during their exchange of blows.

Even the Irishman himself had claimed that the UFC were already well aware of his apparent ankle injury before the fight.

Now UFC president White has confirmed McGregor's claims, but has revealed that his cash cow actually suffers from something far worse than just your standard ankle sprain.

"(McGregor) has had ankle issues for (the) last couple of years," White told Fox News.

"He had asked if he could tape his ankles coming into this fight and he got clearance to do it from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and then he opted not to tape them. I don't know why. He has chronic arthritis in his ankles."

Given the severity of the injury itself, as well as McGregor's new-found history with arthritis, White knows his main man could be sidelined for quite some time.

"It's going to take him a year to recover from this one before he can come back, so I don't know," White added.

"We'll see. The fight game is a tough game and the kid has cemented a massive legacy for himself and made a lot of money. We'll see how the rest of his career plays out."

After coming out of surgery, former dual-division UFC champion McGregor was quick to jump back on social media.

It was here that he first made claims that Dana White and Co had prior knowledge of his condition before the trilogy bout with Poirier at UFC 264.

"I was injured going into the fight," McGregor said in a video posted online.

"People were asking me when was the leg break - at what point did the leg break? Ask Dana White. Ask the UFC. Ask Dr. Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC. They knew. My leg, I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage. There was debate about pulling the thing out because I was sparring without shin pads, and I was kicking."

McGregor's leg snap was reminiscent of the same injuries that Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman suffered.

And if their recovery periods are anything to go by, then White's estimated one-year timeline on McGregor's return might not be too accurate after all.

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Dustin Poirier, MMA News, Injury news, UFC, Australia, MMA, Dana White

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry