“The Game Isn’t Worth the Risk” – Paralyzed After Breaking His Neck, Conor McGregor’s Training Partner’s Tragedy Brings UFC Star to a Confession

Mixed Martial arts, just like any other contact sport, is filled with its fair share of dangers. And one fighter from Conor McGregor’s team sadly couldn’t achieve his dream due to an untimely career-ending injury.

Ryan ‘Chaos’ Curtis was a promising up-and-comer in the MMA scene, with a 6-4 record in MMA. The flyweight, unfortunately, suffered a devastating injury that left his left hand and legs paralyzed. The injury occurred while Curtis was training for his upcoming bout in Cage Conflict 12 on 24th February 2024. Conor McGregor, his striking coach Owen Rody, and other teammates and fighters have reached out to the family, lending them their support, even starting a GoFundMe to help with the medical expenses.

Conor McGregor reveals the harsh truth about the fight game

Conor McGregor’s coach Owen Roddy shared a post on his Instagram, informing the fans of Ryan Curtis’ situation. Roddy revealed, “(Ryan Curtis) suffered a severe and life-changing injury yesterday, breaking his neck & back. Ryan currently has no movement in his legs and left arm.”

Conor McGregor reposted Roddy’s post on his Instagram story, with a heartfelt caption, which read, “Very sad news on Curta. The game isn’t worth the risk. Truth we don’t want to speak on. Thank God for your little family Curta keep them tight and God bless brother, get better you will!”

McGregor also donated quite a huge sum to the family of the injured fighter. The GoFundMe has seen support from the MMA community, as they pulled through, collecting over 55 grand for the family. 25 grand being donated by the former double champ.

However, this isn’t the first time that ‘The Notorious’ has undergone a tragedy of this sort in his life. McGregor fans know that he has announced his retirement as a gimmick a couple of times in the sport. However, the first time he announced his retirement back in 2016, there happened to be a much bigger force at play.

The real reason ‘The Notorious’ contemplated retiring back in 2016

The reason behind McGregor’s very first retirement announcement was supposedly the demise of a fighter who faced his teammate back in 2016. McGregor’s SBG teammate, Charlie Ward, took on Joao Carvalho at Total Extreme Fighting 1. The fight was a slugfest but Ward got the upper hand beating Carvalho via some vicious ground and pound.

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The Brazilian had to be sent to the hospital for brain surgery after taking some serious damage and passed two days later. In the aftermath of the tragedy, McGregor believed that the fight could’ve been stopped sooner, and was left distraught by the whole situation. 10 days after the fight, the Irishman announced his first retirement from the sport.

The then-featherweight UFC champion shut himself away from the media for some time but later told the Men’sHealth magazine how the event affected him. He went on to state that he partly blamed himself for the death of Joao Carvalho, as he stated, “How do I feel? How would you feel? It’s f****d up. I wasn’t just watching that fight. I helped train a guy to kill someone. And then someone wound up dying. This is a f***ing dangerous game. People call it a sport, but it’s fighting. I’m just making sure it ain’t me. And that’s f—-d up. Damn, I still can’t believe that kid is dead.”

‘The Notorious,’ despite his brash nature, has always had a lot of empathy for the people he cared about. Given that he will probably fight Michael Chandler at UFC 302, how do you think fans would react to his return? Will he be able to shake off these (valid) fears, especially after the injury he suffered the last time out? Let us know your take in the comments section below.

Also Read: Michael Chandler Outlines How Fast He Shall Ko Conor McGregor at UFC 302 – “Either Way”