Teddy Atlas in a recent interview with Dustin questioned his use of the leg. He could've utilized his front kick from Orthodox more, high kicks, he could've setup his kicks more, he was already taking pics in camp of the leg. Even brought cameras to his medical evaluations.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that using that leg until injury occurred was a way out, even if it was subconsciously.
He fought like someone who was overcome by the moment, continuing to desperately use low kicks like it was his only real way of victory, and maybe it was. We've just never seen such a low display of fight IQ from him in the UFC.