UFC fans were left in shock on Saturday evening after Conor McGregor was on the receiving end of some ferocious leg kicks from ‘The Diamond’ Dustin Poirier.

Indeed, McGregor struggled from the beginning to deal with the man from Louisiana's low shots to the leg, and by the end of the bout, ‘The Notorious’ was left struggling to walk.

Footage was subsequently captured after the encounter showing the Irishman using crutches on his way to his post-fight press conference.

Speaking about the injury, McGregor said: “My leg is completely dead. Even though I felt like I was checking them. … I was badly compromised.”

McGregor, who went on to lose the fight in the second round via TKO, continued to say: “The leg kicks were good. That low calf kick was very good. The leg was there I just wasn’t as comfortable as I needed to be.”

In addition, McGregor also blamed it on the inactivity inside the Octagon having not fought for a year since his first-round victory over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.

The Irishman said: “It’s the inactivity and that’s it, but Dustin is some fighter. I have to dust off and come back.

“That’s what I’ll do. I need activity, you don’t get away with being inactive in this business.”

It remains to be seen what is next for ‘The Notorious’ following this latest defeat. There certainly appears to be desire from the Irishman’s side of things anyway to arrange a trilogy encounter with Dustin Poirier as both fighters have won one each.

McGregor, meanwhile, has also been in discussions with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao over a potential fight in the ring. There's also rumours of a fight with YouTuber Jake Paul, but whether the Irishman will fancy that, no one knows.

One thing is clear, however, Conor McGregor will certainly need time to get over the mental and physical damage caused by this stunning and rather painful defeat.