While some UFC fans are only thinking about when and if Conor McGregor will return, other fans can’t seem to understand why a toe injury ushered him off the UFC 303 card. After all, replaced headliner Alex Pereira suffered the same injury while fighting Jamahal Hill and went on to finish the former champion despite that. However, lightweight contender Beneil Dariush seems to have vivid knowledge about this kind of injury, having been through a similar experience himself.

Beniel Dariush, besides racking up a couple of losses on the trot, has been dealing with some injuries of his own. The Yorba Linda resident revealed being in a recovery mode of sorts during an interview and also claimed that he also suffered a painful toe injury like Conor McGregor that left him in a crippled state.

Beneil Dariush empathizes with Conor McGregor

Having to deal with his own injuries, Beneil Dariush opined, when asked, about Conor McGregor’s toe injury and the remedies of the routine that he adopts to nurse these wounds. He claimed to have suffered that injury a while ago, but it had a slight difference. It was just his toe that was affected, and that happened while sparring. “I had the same exact injury Conor had. The only difference was where my toe broke was where the foot connects… It was like the foot and the pinky toe and then one more toe broke just from a push kick,” Beneil Dariush told ‘Submission Radio’.

Citing how he got hurt, ‘Benny’ believes Conor McGregor may have suffered his toe injury in similar circumstances while sparring and gave fans an idea as to what kind of situation he’s in right now. “I’m sure Conor’s situation was the same thing. He threw a push kick and hit an elbow, and that’s kinda how it happened if I had to guess.” the lightweight contender further stated. Thereafter, Beneil Dariush would reveal the excruciatingly painful process of dealing with his toe injury, which affected his foot and made him immobile.

“The pain was in the toe. Like, if people told me, ‘Hey, cut the toe off’, I’d have cut the toe off. The problem was all the inflammation went into my foot and I literally couldn’t walk. So if I can’t walk, I can’t fight, I can’t make weight, I can’t do anything,” ‘Benny’ added. Now, he just wants his recovery done and hopefully fight once before the year comes to an end. But what about Conor McGregor?

There’s good news for ‘The Notorious’ fans because a certain UFC commentator has a few expectations from Conor McGregor to make his return soon. Moreover, he even mapped out the Irishman’s fight schedule for the remainder of his contract.

UFC commentator expects ‘The Notorious’ to fight twice in eight months

A few days ago during the UFC Hall of Fame red ceremony, play-by-play fight caller Jon Anik appeared to have faith in Conor McGregor, despite legends like Chael Sonnen believing that there’s no UFC return for Conor McGregor in 2024. He confidently opined that fans will get to see Conor McGregor perform at the top of his skills, and fight out his UFC contract in under a year’s time.

“I fully expect him to compete in 2024, to come back at a high level. Fight twice in eight months. I know it sounds ridiculous and super ambitious to some people, but I just know the mixed martial arts athlete is in there, and I just remain hopeful that he’s going to come back and make more of an impact than anyone expects that he will,” Jon Anik told ‘MMA Junkie’.

It’s been three long years and Conor McGregor may have been feeling like he’s waited too long. After fans questioned his partying habits weeks before the clash against Michael Chandler, the Irishman recently made a U-turn when he skipped a party just to train. Is that a sign that 2024 is still a viable option? That remains to be seen.