Chael Sonnen is stirring the pot once again, aiming his barbs at Conor McGregor and accusing the former two-division champion of fabricating his injury to dodge a fight at UFC 303.
"The Notorious" was set to make his eagerly awaited return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler in a welterweight bout, headlining UFC's International Fight Week last month. However, just weeks before the fight, that anticipation was dashed when McGregor announced he had suffered a toe injury, rendering him unable to compete.
When the fight was canceled, Sonnen speculated that McGregor withdrew due to being in rehab for substance abuse. This theory provoked a heated rebuttal from the Irishman, who shared numerous photos of his bruised toe to refute the claim.
However, this didn't deter the former UFC middleweight title challenger from questioning the authenticity of McGregor’s claims. Last month, he boldly asserted that the injury was a ruse, devised solely to avoid the bout with Chandler.
Sonnen once again targeted McGregor, casting doubt on the legitimacy of his injury claim with unrelenting skepticism...
Sonnen Amplifies Scrutiny Over McGregor's Toe Injury
During a recent video on his YouTube channel, "The Bad Guy" once again aired his doubts about McGregor's alleged broken toe.
Sonnen scrutinized the timeline of events following his supposed injury and questioned why McGregor missed the Dublin press conference.
I'm looking out for his version of a discolored pinky toe that may or may not be broken," Sonnen said. "It wouldn't explain the absence of a press conference, and that's where you get jammed up. Where was it? Where could you have been that precluded you from coming to a press conference? You don't have to drive yourself.
Sonnen further speculated whether the photos of bruised toes McGregor shared on social media were genuinely his or possibly someone else's.
You start running out of options, and so when you go with a discolored pinky toe that may or may not belong to you and may or may not be broken, I'm just wondering, in hindsight, do you look back on that and think it was a little bit of a miss because we're not owed an explanation?
McGregor has been sidelined from active competition since fracturing his leg in the first round of his trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.
Although his return has yet to be rescheduled, UFC CEO Dana White has hinted that McGregor won't re-enter the Octagon before November. However, it remains uncertain whether he will face Chandler for his comeback.