When the information broke that Conor McGregor had withdrawn from his UFC 303 fundamental occasion combat in opposition to Michael Chandler due to a damaged pinky toe, a few photos flashed into my thoughts. The first was the damaged foot Rafael dos Anjos suffered forward of his scheduled UFC 196 matchup in opposition to McGregor. The second was a quote attributed toMarvin Hagler, “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 a.m. when you’re sleeping in silk pajamas.”

When Dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196 due to a damaged foot, McGregor chastised the then-UFC light-weight champion, “Did you see it? It’s a bruise,” McGregor stated in 2016. “Ice, ibuprofen. If I jumped under an x-ray, the doctor would slap me and say what are you doing kid? Get out of here. Stop this! If you show up, you fight, you’re in, congratulations. You did it.”

Dos Anjos additionally remembered McGregor’s remarks, and he addressed the previous two-division UFC champion on social media, evaluating the accidents that pressured them from their fights.

I understood why Dos Anjos withdrew from his combat in 2016, and I perceive why McGregor pulled out of UFC 303. However, I can not help however assume the Conor McGregor of 2016, who had gained the UFC featherweight title by knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds in 2015, and earned a reported $500,000 for the win, would have fought with a damaged toe.

This brings us to Hagler’s remark and one thing that UFC CEO Dana White has stated many instances about McGregor: He doesn’t have to combat.

“Conor might never fight again,” White stated in November 2017. “The guy’s got $100 (expletive) million. I’ve got guys that made less than that and were lawyers and went to school their whole life and quit working … try to get up every day and get punched in the face when you have $100 million in the bank.”

McGregor’s wealth has elevated since White made that assertion within the aftermath of McGregor’s profitable boxing matchup in opposition to Floyd Mayweather. In 2021, McGregor was the highest-paid athlete on the planet, bringing in a reported $180 million.

White lately reiterated his stance on the sum of money McGregor has collected through the years, “It’s impossible for that money not to affect you and change you.”

White is appropriate. The cash has modified McGregor, however within the case of UFC 303 and his eradicating himself from the Chandler combat, that change is likely to be for the higher. A youthful McGregor would have seemingly thrown warning to the wind and competed with an harm, which isn’t the wisest determination.

McGregor addressed that reality when he spoke about pulling out of the combat.

“I’m still here rocking away,” McGregor stated on the current Bellator occasion in Ireland. “I had somewhat lapse in focus so I needed to reschedule the belt, so I’m somewhat upset about that. But it is preserving me dialed in. It’s preserving me targeted…The job shouldn’t be finished. So that is not dangerous for somebody like me. I’m onwards in direction of the brand new date and take my classes discovered.

“It was a lapse in concentration. If I was any one of these other little bums that can’t move, that have no footwork, that don’t rely on their skills, then I would be OK. And I’ve done it before. I’ve made the walk a multitude of times in those circumstances and given these bums an advantage over me that they don’t even deserve. So now I’m dialing it in, I’mgetting this training camp correct, I’m walking in there 100 percent Conor McGregor, injury free. Perfection is on the menu with me, and that’s it.”

I perceive and assist McGregor’s need to combat when he’s wholesome. A loss to Chandler would have put McGregor at 0-3 in his previous three UFC outings. He hasn’t gained a combat since he defeated Donald Cerrone in 2020. A loss, even whereas compromised, wouldn’t have ended McGregor’s profession, however it wouldn’t have helped it. Still, I know McGregor’s previous habits and disparagement of Dos Anjos open him to criticism and condemnation. Something he could or could not deserve, however it does really feel like a little bit of karma has come again to chunk the brash and outspoken Irish fighter.

The new UFC 303 fundamental occasion is a light-weight heavyweight title combat between present champion Alex Pereira and former champ Jiri Prochazka. UFC 303 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 29. The fundamental card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.