One of the most anticipated fights in the UFC this year, never actually materialized. While the whole wide world was waiting tirelessly for Conor McGregor to finally make a return after being out of action for three years, he had to withdraw from his fight with Michael Chandler just a couple of weeks before the scheduled fight. And it was all because of a broken pinky toe. Being a striker, a broken toe could create quite a bit of trouble in the Octagon. Since McGregor wanted the fight fans to see him at his best, he had no choice but to pull out. Many netizens speculated that ‘The Notorious’ pulled out of the fight because he was mentally unprepared to make a return. After all, recovering from an injury as gruesome as the one McGregor suffered back at UFC 264 was a pretty tough plan. And Joe Rogan was of a similar opinion.

On episode #160 of the JRE MMA Show, Rogan sat down with Francis Ngannou for a long talk. During the conversation, one of the topics that popped up was the nastiness of broken shins in the world of mixed martial arts. The beloved UFC color commentator recounted the time when Chris Weidman broke his leg during his fight against Uriah Hall, at UFC 261. Rogan claimed that he would never forget the sound of that. But Weidman’s injury shone some light on McGregor’s injury as well. 

The ‘Mystic Mac’ snapped his leg in half while retreating against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. This injury was the reason why he had to go on a three-year-long hiatus. Weighing in on that, Rogan said, “You know, it’s like, that, those breaks, especially the shin break, you know. I wonder if Conor McGregor is ever going to come back again. It’s like, it’s very difficult to come back from that break. That was, that’s one of the worst injuries.”

Right after the JRE host gave his verdict on McGregor’s return, Ngannou chimed in with a similar mindset. But the former UFC heavyweight champion pointed out the mental toll such nasty injuries exert on the fighters. Ngannou declared that the mental struggle with an injury created doubts that made a fighter wonder if he/she could ever prevent the injury from happening again. He also claimed that while people rehabilitated the injured parts of their body, the mental rehab was still a mystery. 

Regrowing bones and coming out of an injury to do something that caused the injury in the first place does take immense willpower. However, whether the Irish mixed martial artist will ever return is still a debate in the MMA world. 

When will ‘The Notorious’ return to the UFC?

Following his withdrawal from UFC 303, things are pretty uncertain with the Irishman’s return. Taking to social media, McGregor let the fighting community breathe a sigh of relief with a promise. He shared a picture of his fight against Donald Cerrone and wrote, “Soon I return and fly thru the air in attack mode.”

However, the UFC head honcho wasn’t that confident with McGregor’s return. In the interview on ‘The Pat McCafe Show’, Dana White said, “Ahh, sitting here right now, no, I don’t have a date for it or a plan or anything like that. And obviously, me, the fans, and ESPN would love that to happen at 2024, but we will see what happens.”

Will McGregor bless the Octagon with a comeback in 2024? Or will his injuries keep preventing him from doing so? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.