The utter frustration and pain of fracturing his left leg were plastered all over Conor Mcgregor's face as he sat in the Octagon following his first-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier this past weekend at UFC 264.
On Sunday evening, McGregor took to his Twitter account and provided an update for what lies ahead of his 'Notorious' road to recovery.
That said, once McGregor fully heals from the surgery and builds himself back, he'll have options. DAZN News takes a look at a few of them.
McGregor vs. Poirier 4
Even while waiting in the Octagon to have his fractured left leg placed in a splint following the doctor's stoppage at UFC 264, McGregor had the presence in mind to warn Poirier: "This is not over!"
Poirier, later during the post-fight press conference, teased much of the same.
"We are going to fight again," Poirier said, "whether it's in the Octagon or on the sidewalk."
Simply put: McGregor suffering a clean break of his tibia during the first round Saturday night prevented him and Poirier from getting the closure that their trilogy fight was supposed to deliver. They didn't get any closure and neither did MMA fans. That's precisely why a fourth fight between these rivals needs to happen.
Dana White spoke about it during the post-fight press conference as well.
"It sucks, it's brutal, it's not the way you want to see fights end," White said. "Dustin Poirier will fight for the title and when Conor's healed and ready to go, he'll do the rematch I guess."
While recovering from surgery and subsequently building his body back to full health, McGregor will most likely be subjected to watching Poirier fight lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
Then, when the time is right, it will be Poirier vs. McGregor 4 — perhaps for the title. It's McGregor's next fight option that ranks highest in order of importance.
A McGregor vs. Nate Diaz trilogy
Despite Poirier saying he will fight McGregor again — whether in the Octagon or in the streets — there was a moment during the post-fight press conference when he stated that 'Notorious' would need to win some fights to get another crack at him, especially if he's the new lightweight champion by then.
"Conor McGregor is 1-3 or 1-4 in the lightweight division ... yeah, he has to win some fights," Poirier said. "But like I said before, a guy like that goes out there and starches somebody, he's right back in the top contender talk just because of his star power."
If McGregor needs a fight to get Poirier back into the Octagon, could Nate Diaz be part of his plan? McGregor did mention that he wants a trilogy fight with Diaz during the final press conference for UFC 264.
Audie Attar, McGregor's rep and business partner, even spoke about it with TMZ Sports prior to the Irish fighter's fractured tibia.
"The trilogy fight is gonna happen. Conor publicly said it has to happen," Attar said. "And, I know both fighters intend to make it happen. I think it's just gonna happen in the near future, just not next, immediately."
Well, the fracture, road to recovery and a get-back fight that he needs might have changed the latter.
Diaz submitted McGregor with a rear-naked choke, before 'Notorious' earned a majority decision victory over Diaz five months later in 2016.
There's no doubt that a McGregor-Diaz trilogy would be huge.
A Charles Oliveira fight
Prior to suffering a leg fracture, McGregor was eyeing a title fight with Oliveira. Now, let's just say for argument sake that Poirier defeats Oliveira but the bout goes the distance. 'Notorious' might feel compelled to try to finish Oliveira off within the distance, before getting Poirier back into the Octagon. Just to say he did it better.
Style-wise, McGregor and Oliveira would make for an intriguing scrap as well.
Fighting Michael Chandler
UFC 257 in January was the scene of Poirier finishing McGregor with a second-round TKO in their rematch as the main event.
The co-feature of that card had Chandler scoring a first-round TKO of Dan Hooker and calling out McGregor.
"Conor McGregor. Surprise, surprise. There's a new king in the lightweight division," Chandler said.
Poirier said that McGregor "has to win some fights" in the lightweight division. Why not Chandler as a test?
Chandler is sitting as the fourth-ranked lightweight after suffering a second-round TKO loss to Oliveira with the then-vacant lightweight title up for grabs in May.
Yes ... a boxing bout with Jake Paul or MMA fight with Logan Paul
Before you shake your head, just know that anything is possible and McGregor referring to the Paul brothers as "dingbats" during an interview earlier last week only serves as proof that they're on his radar.
How could they not be? Logan, like Conor, fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the boxing ring. Jake trolls McGregor every chance he gets, including purchasing a $100K sleepy McGregor pendant prior to Poirier-McGregor 3 and mocking the Irish fighter following his first-round TKO loss Saturday night.
A fight with either Paul would serve as a glorious payday and something that McGregor could work into his schedule of building himself back.
Stranger things have happened for us to simply dismiss either possibility.