“The guy replacing you also has broken toes,” one fan responded. “I guess Alex Pereira is just built different.”
Conor McGregor probably thought posting X-rays of his broken pinky toe would validate his decision to withdraw from the UFC 303 pay-per-view (PPV) main event on June 29 in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, it only served to disgust already-aggravated fans who appear to be tired of investing in his “Notorious” comeback, which continues to drag on nearly three years after he last competed.
Here’s some of the feedback from his latest Twitter update:
It’s so minimal you have to point it out on the X-ray.
Oh no, Chandler has Conor in a pinky lock! He tapped! He tapped!
Meanwhile, “Poatan” stepping in to save UFC 303 with the same injury.
Alcohol weakens bones.
Backed out because of a broken toe? This ain’t the McGregor we used to know.
But you’re still fine to drink whiskey and party?
Canceled the press conference for a toe?
That little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.
This backfired bad.
Following his withdrawal, the promotion enlisted UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira — currently dealing with his own broken toe — to defend his 205-pound strap against former division titleholder Jiri Prochazka.
See the revised UFC 303 fight card and PPV lineup here.
McGregor’s fellow UFC fighters seemed even less impressed by the injury update, including reigning UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
“You don’t need a pinky toe for a fight lol chicken,” Makhachev (or manager Ali Abdelaziz, who is routinely accused of posting on behalf of fighters) wrote on Twitter. “And my condolences to Michael ‘Hachiko’ Chandler.”
Hachiko was a Japanese Akita dog who traveled to the train station every day for nine years waiting for his dead owner to return home from work. Similarly, Chandler has opted to sideline himself in hopes of securing his own “red panty night.”
From “Forever” to “Forgotten.”
“Chandler is getting paid 10x of what his contract states for other fights,” McGregor added. “Meaning he would need to fight 10 fights to make what he would make in this one. I’m ‘The One.’ For those saying he could have fought two or three times by now, etc., he’d need 10 to break even with this check.”
A timeline for McGregor’s UFC return has yet to be established.