“Did Conor McGregor do the right thing?” That’s probably the most discussed question of the hour as the 35-year-old broke hearts yet again by pulling out of the UFC 303 fight against Michael Chandler, due to an injury.

While, initially, the severity of the issue was hidden from the MMA community, the former dual-weight champion recently came forward to reveal he had broken his left pinky toe during training. And since that revelation, the community has been split into two, with some supporting his decision and some not. But as far as Joe Rogan is concerned, it was the wisest decision the former highest paid athlete could’ve taken.

Joe Rogan’s wise words for Conor McGregor

This is the first time the former two-weight world champion has pulled out a fight due to injury. Taking that into account, Rogan, in a conversation on ‘JRE Fight Companion’, said, “He’s [Conor McGregor] never pulled out of any fight before. This is the first time he pulled out, and I think it’s wise. I mean, if you do have a broken toe and you are going into a fight, and you did go into the last fight injured, what if the fu**ing toe became an issue? What if he throws a kick, and he smashes it again and he’s in agony and he can’t move? 

“Look, here’s the thing about a broken pinkie toe. When you’re a guy who kicks as much as Conor, then it’s a fu**ing problem. It’s also the same foot where his leg was snapped, and he went into that fight injured,” the multi-millionaire podcaster had said earlier in the conversation, defending the Irish star.

While the fans are rightfully upset, Mystic Mac has a record of showing up for fights, despite gnarly injuries. After his last outing against Dustin Poirier, McGregor had stated how he had “multiple stress fractures” even before the bout took place. And remember July 2015 when the Irish boxer beat Chad Mendes 18-2 in UFC 189? Well, as per the former UFC champion, he fought his opponent with a partially torn ACL. “Fourteen weeks before the fight I tore 80 percent of my ACL. I could barely walk. I could barely kick,” the fighter had revealed at the time.

Even ahead of his UFC 202 bout against Nate Diaz back in 2016, McGregor was nursing a shin and ankle injury he suffered during training camp. To make matters worse, the MMA fighter suffered a foot and ankle fracture during the fight. Despite the visible swelling in his left ankle, he continued landing continuous kicks on his opponent, ultimately claiming victory.

McGregor exercising caution for a change might prove to be in the fighter’s favor- at least, that’s what could be deduced from his previous outings. But not just Joe Rogan, even medical professionals are in favor of the pullout decision!

Doctors in favor of McGregor pulling out of UFC 303

For those still wondering if the fight should’ve happened no matter what, physiatrist (and YouTube personality), Dr. Brian Sutterer is here to set the record straight. After examining McGregor’s X-ray, the doctor said he believes the perfect decision was taken. “Was this an injury warranted of McGregor withdrawing? Yeah, I think so. Absolutely,” said Sutterer.

He further added, “It’s not a fracture that’s going to have that drastic of an effect on your mobility compared to a great toe or a big toe fracture where you’re pushing off and you’re putting a lot more weight through it. But it’s enough of a thing that’s going to affect and throw off your ability to, one, continue your training and keep up your cardio, but then two, feel confident with your footwork, especially when you’re dealing with an athlete who’s coming back from a broken leg. You’re gonna have a lower threshold for being affected by an injury.”

Apart from this, MMA doctor David Abbasi also weighed in on how long it might take McGregor to heal, saying, “This would take about four weeks to heal as do most bony fracture injuries in somebody younger and healthy. This would affect a fighter’s ability to put weight on their toes and put their weight forward. You could put weight backwards on the heel and some fighters have pushed through and fought with something like this but this would definitely affect somebody’s explosiveness and especially kicking.”

“So, if this was in fact the injury, I think we do have a legitimate reason to delay the fight,” Abbasi then concluded.

As for the man of the hour, he also made a vital proclamation on social media. In what seemed like a promise to himself, the star wrote, “I will never enter a fight hurt again and I will never lose another fight.” While his tweet was met with a lot of negative reactions from users, it seems he is hellbent on making a comeback, with a win.

Do you think he’ll be able to bounce back to his winning ways? Let us know your predictions in the comments below!