Conor McGregor had to pull out of his UFC 303 clash against Michael Chandler on June 29 because of an injury. After some such as Chael Sonnen cast doubts on the claims that ‘The Notorious’ was injured, the Irishman pulled out the receipts and provided photo and X-ray evidence of his injury on X yesterday.
McGregor, of course, is famous for not pulling out of fights, even fighting with injury on occasion, as he did against Chad Mendes in 2015. UFC 303 is the first time he has ever pulled out of a fight, and the sport’s biggest-ever star has declared in a tweet that “I will never enter a fight hurt again and I will never lose another fight.”
The bombastic Dubliner has claimed in interviews that he went into his trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021, where he snapped his leg in half, with stress fractures. But now, ‘Mac’ is determined to fight only when he is a hundred percent healthy, which would undoubtedly help him achieve his second goal- to not lose any fights going forward.
Some such as Islam Makhachev have mocked the former two-division champion for pulling out over a broken pinkie toe, but medical experts have weighed in and explained that the injury is quite debilitating as it prevents proper mobility. And the Irishman, whose abilities as a fighter and seriousness are widely being questioned, has seemingly made up his mind.
He has resolved not to repeat the mistake of fighting injured, as he seems driven to prove that he is still one of the best fighters in the world. However, there are good reasons for his critics to be skeptical.
Conor McGregor’s recent form and health not positive
McGregor has been on a downward slope for the past half a decade at least. He has fought only four times in the past six years, managing to win only one of those fights. In addition, he suffered a serious, potentially life-threatening injury last time around at UFC 264, which took him two years to recover from. Not to mention the 35-year-old’s advancing age. Given all of these disadvantages, many are skeptical if the Irishman can still go toe to toe with the best fighters in the world.
His tweet, however, has made it clear that he is very serious about his comeback and future. This was pointed out by two-division champion Henry Cejudo earlier. After ‘Mac’ pulled out of UFC 303 last week, ‘Triple C’ had correctly predicted that this was a sign that the Irishman meant business and wanted to be in top shape before entering the octagon again. And while his recent record may not be too impressive, ‘Mac’ is one of (at his prime probably the) greatest strikers in UFC history with an excellent fight IQ and understanding of distance and range.
McGregor has all the tools required to get back on top and aim for a title shot in the near future. Or at least, had. Until the Irishman gets into the octagon and proves he can still compete with the top guys in the division, most of his critics will remain unconvinced, McGregor’s strongly worded tweets notwithstanding.
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