Conor McGregor withdrew from UFC 303 due to a broken toe, prioritizing his health and career longevity despite past criticisms of other fighters for similar actions.
Conor McGregor made it clear he doesn’t want to fight injured ever again. This played a huge part in his decision to drop out of UFC 303 after suffering a broken toe in training.
Coming off a broken leg and a three-year absence, the Irish superstar doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. Especially as he prepares to face a known finisher like Michael Chandler.
Many fans are disappointed that McGregor is no longer competing Saturday. However, UFC legend Matt Brown says the former two-division champion is totally justified pulling out of a fight if he’s not actually healthy.
The problem is McGregor built his reputation on always showing up. He famously mocked Rafael dos Anjos after the Brazilian dropped out of their scheduled matchup in 2016 due to a broken foot.
“Unfortunately, the initial reaction was we all remembered him and Rafael dos Anjos, right?” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Unfortunately, that was the first thing we thought about.”
Realistically, a broken toe is a perfectly fine reason to pull out of a fight. A f*cking broken toe sucks. It hurts.
You shouldn’t go in with injuries like that. Who knows why it happened, how it happened? There are questions about what’s actually going on.
Let’s just assume it’s true: you’re going to go in and fight Michael Chandler with a broken pinky toe? You can’t put your weight on it; you can’t move around; you can’t do your footwork. Foolish. Pull out of the f*cking fight.
“No one with any sense is mad at you other than the fact that when Rafael dos Anjos did it with an actual broken foot, you were a f*cking dick about it.”
In a turning of the tables, dos Anjos was quick to remind McGregor about his numerous comments eight years ago after missing his initial chance at becoming a two-division UFC champion.
McGregor spewing insults at dos Anjos back then made him an easy target now after revealing his injury forced him out of UFC 303.
“What goes around comes around,” Brown said. “The karma is real. Now Conor’s dealing with it.”
If he had just kept his mouth shut, then it would be total respect. But he talked shit about others doing it and now he’s done it himself.
When it comes to the actual injury, Brown can’t say exactly what McGregor is dealing with because “broken toe” doesn’t really tell him much about the extent of the damage.
A simple fracture in the bone is far different than potential tendon or ligament damage that could keep McGregor sidelined longer than expected—possibly until August or September.
In reality, Brown believes no matter the severity of the injury, McGregor’s decision not to fight Chandler at UFC 303 was tactical as much as practical.
“That 1-3 in his last four fights is significant,” Brown said. “If he was coming off a four-fight win streak, this whole conversation would be different.”
But coming off 1-3 in his last four? He’s right—not worth risking unless you’re 100 percent healthy.
Why take that risk? We’ve talked many times about his ego needing fulfillment when he fights—that’s why he’s coming back—to feed that ego.
The last thing he can do is risk getting touched up again if he’s not fully prepared. If he goes in there and gets whooped—which might happen—he’ll need rehab afterward too!
All jokes aside… diving into snow or skiing for rehab?
Brown acknowledged that while McGregor’s star power may not be too badly diminished by another loss… there’s still inherent risk fighting someone as dangerous as Chandler.
Possibly falling to 1-4 in five fights off such long absence and turning 36 soon… not many more opportunities left for climbing back up UFC ladder for Conor!
That’s exactly why McGregor couldn’t chance fighting Chandler on this broken toe situation…
“Realistically if he loses against Michael Chandler,” Brown said “his money fights from here on out would be Jake Pauls—the f*cking sideshow stuff.”
They won’t be meaningful fights anymore—that’s what I’m getting at! He’ll never have another meaningful fight again if he loses…
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