Doctors give their verdict on Sean O’Malley’s fight-ending UFC 252 leg injury

The Sugar Show imploded on Saturday night at UFC 252, and fans still don’t know what happened. Meanwhile, Two doctors give their armchair opinions on What caused Sean O’Malley’s leg to give out from under him during his UFC 252 fight against Marlon Vera.

The match and the injury

the match started off to a good start between “Sugar” Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera. The two were having one of their most memorable night in an octagon when halfway through the round O’Malley’s right foot started giving up — the same foot that betrayed him in a 2018 bout against Andre Soukhamthath. Vera came in for the kill and ended the fight with 20 seconds left in the first round.

Expert’s opinion on the injury

Brian Sutterer is an MD in physical medicine and rehabilitation and has a YouTube page where he breaks down sports injuries. He even did a video on the eye poke from UFC 252’s Miocic vs Cormier fight, and now he’s put one together for Sean O’Malley injury vs Marlon Vera. Sutter breaks down the Lisfranc tear injury O’Malley suffered from in 2018, which is what “Sugar” reportedly told Megan Olivi he aggravated in the Vera fight.

Sutterer doesn’t focus much on what could have been the cause of the injury. But FightingDoc on Reddit/MMA breaks it down to Vera’s calf kick and explains in detail how a kick to the calf can mess up your foot. ”Sean was hit with a high calf kick right as he was backing up to the cage. Shortly after, while the commentators were talking about how short Stipe’s legs are, you can see him buckle.

The common peroneal nerve courses around the fibular head on the outside of the lower leg and Vera’s kick hit him right on that point. Damage to that nerve and its branches will cause foot drop, more unopposed ankle rolling inwards, and therefore buckling of the foot when trying to walk. We saw that happen. And with the rolling of the foot and hitting the top of the foot on the canvas, he may have aggravated his old Lisfranc foot injury too.

Lisfranc injuries also can lead to chronic mid-foot instability so it’s possible that all of the above resulted in a perfect storm causing his right leg to just become non-functioning. Can’t take anything away from Chito though. Alex Perez TKO’ed Formiga several months ago with calf kicks and they both fight out of Team Oyama. Those guys were drilling them during camp.”

With no updates since O’Malley rushed off to the hospital, fans are left to speculate on what led to his injury. there are many theories like “Did he simply step wrong on the foot?”, ” Did he hurt his foot kicking Vera?”, Or” did a calf kick from Vera damage the nerves in his leg and leave it useless?”

however, Conor McGregor’s coach,John Kavanagh, thinks it’s the latter.

“Leg kick directly onto right common peroneal nerve resulting in inability to dorsiflex ankle,” Kavanagh wrote. “An increasingly common attack in MMA #sweeptheleg.”

Also read: Sean O’Malley loses to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 after his return; The accidental tweak changed things completely