Conor McGregor, Others Offer Support to Irish Fighter Ryan Curtis After Spine Injury

Statement re Ryan Curtis https://t.co/sGPDpWo1uS pic.twitter.com/gUokQ5HuvD

— Leah McCourt (@leahmccourtmma) January 13, 2024

Irish fighter Ryan Curtis has the whole Irish mixed martial arts community — along with many others — rallying behind him during a difficult time.

The flyweight fighter has lost the use of his arms and legs after suffering injuries to his back, neck and spine in training. Bellator women’s featherweight Leah McCourt, a close friend of Curtis’, recently set up a GoFundMe account in his name with the goal currently raised to $150,000 after nearly having reached the initial target of $100,000. A statement attached to the GoFundMe page reads:

“Ryan has suffered a broken back, broken neck and dislocated spine. During this injury, trauma was also caused to Ryan’s spinal cord. The damage is classified as the most severe that can happen to a spinal cord. He was rushed to the Royal in Belfast and underwent emergency surgery. Currently Ryan has no movement in his legs or his left arm. The road ahead is unknown and will involve at least 5 months of him in hospital, followed by a further period of time with a specialist spinal team. There is no exact end date to when this treatment will be complete.

“Ryan will never be able to do what he loves, and fight or train in MMA again. A sport he has dedicated his life to from the age of 11. Ryan will be out of work for the foreseeable future and we are trying to take any additional load or stress off Ryan’s family and daughter by creating a page to raise some funds to help towards rehabilitation, vital treatment, recovery and supporting his family.”

As a 10-fight veteran who competed in promotions like Brave Combat Federation, Cage Warriors and Bellator, Curtis was well known and liked in the Irish MMA community. Conor McGregor, SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh, Dillon Danis and Bellator executive Mike Kogan are among those who have offered financial support to the injured fighter. McGregor’s donation to the GoFundMe page is listed at $25,000.

Sending my support and well wishes to Dublin MMA fighter Ryan Curtis after suffering life changing injury in practice. Here is a link to his go fund me , he has a young daughter and the family needs our support 🙏❤️ https://t.co/a57zcOqHkv pic.twitter.com/qTIhbekLc1

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 14, 2024

devastated to hear the news about promising young irish fighter Ryan Curtis. if you can afford to donate to help him face the biggest fight of his life it would be greatly appreciated. https://t.co/3T2xRKHsgb

— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) January 14, 2024

My brother and best friend through everything in life. https://t.co/sGPDpWo1uS pic.twitter.com/pRDj6sdyL5

— Leah McCourt (@leahmccourtmma) January 13, 2024

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