Conor McGregor has been accused of faking a toe injury to avoid his highly anticipated return to the octagon against Michael Chandler.
The bout was scheduled to headline UFC 303 in June, marking McGregor’s first appearance in the cage in several years.
Conor McGregor
Sources
The 36-year-old fighter reportedly broke his left pinky toe during one of his final sparring sessions, leading to the postponement of the match.
McGregor sought to dispel any doubts about the legitimacy of his injury by sharing photos and X-rays, addressing the speculation surrounding his first-ever withdrawal from a UFC event.
However, former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen remains unconvinced.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sonnen expressed his skepticism, stating, “I do not believe that Conor McGregor pulled out due to a toe injury. But I also don’t believe Conor McGregor had a toe injury.”
“I have to share for you, this is Chael’s opinion. I never bought that story. And I never suspected anything. I never suspected anything until Conor McGregor took a picture of a toe and put it on social media.”
“It was then, and only then, that I go, ‘Oh, we got a cover-up going on.’”Chael Sonnen
“You would post your face in the picture, you would prove that it was your foot. That was my thought. That’s not an expert piece of evidence.”
“I’m just sharing for you that a guy who was broken in half with a compound fracture, who’s going to get rushed to the hospital and rushed into surgery but he was such a professional that he calls Joe Rogan over to sit down and he finished an interview because that was the job.”
🚨Conor McGregor reveals his injury that caused him to withdraw from #UFC303 is a broken toe‼️
In response to Chael Sonnen’s claims that he is NOT INJURED and actually withdrew to enter REHAB,
McGregor says“Chael shut your pie hole, hoe. You tap from ground and pound.”#MMA pic.twitter.com/DAa60EUqjz
— MMA Casuals (@MMA_CASUALS_) June 21, 2024
“It’s hard for me to believe that he pulled out of a job a month early for a discoloured pinky toe which may or may not be broken and may or may not belong to him. I, moreover, had a larger issue with it because, how did it happen?”
“If Conor hurt his toe, how? And who was there? And what were you doing when you stubbed your toe. Did you roll it? [Did] you hit something? Did you kick and a guy blocked it? Who was that guy? Who was the guy?”
“Because for a guy who has a bad leg and is coming off a compound fracture, the mere thought that you would be throwing that kick without the proper padding on is really tough for me to believe. So I’m just asking a question.”