While Conor McGregor is doing his utmost to recover from injury, a UFC icon has called ‘karma’ over how the Irishman treated Rafael Dos Anjos.

‘The Notorious’ was scheduled to make his eagerly-anticipated return to the cage at UFC 303 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, until damage sustained to his little toe during training camp forced him out of the headline attraction.

MMA legend fires shots at Conor McGregor over UFC 303 pull-out

Following an intense rivalry documented while filming The Ultimate Fighter, Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler were finally scheduled to settle their rivalry once and for all.

The pair of sporting titans have gone head-to-head in the media for years, with each believing they have what it takes to render the other unconscious.

With both men blessed with thunderous power, the contest could’ve ended at any second, and would have likely made for an incredible spectacle for the fans.

Alas, at least for the time being, the fight is off. Unfortunately, after sustaining an injury to his little toe during a sparring session, McGregor came to the conclusion that he would not be able to compete to his optimum ability and thus made the difficult call to save himself for another day.

However, while this may seem like a wise decision on paper, it has understandably gone down badly with some of his fellow fighters.

UFC legend, Matt Brown, has taken aim at the Dubliner, reminding him of the time he fiercely ripped Rafael Dos Anjos for pulling out of UFC 196 over a broken foot.

He told MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs The Writer: “No one with any sense is mad at you other than the fact that when Rafael dos Anjos did it with an actual broken foot, you were a f***ing d*** about it.

“What goes around comes around. The karma is real. Now Conor’s dealing with it. If he would have just kept his mouth shut, then it would be total respect. You talk s*** about other people doing it, and then you go and do it.”

However, while ‘The Immortal’ certainly wasn’t shy of expressing exactly what he thought about the situation, he actually made an interesting case as to why McGregor may have made the right decision.

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Did Conor McGregor do the right thing by pulling out of Michael Chandler fight?

In a sport like mixed martial arts, in which everyone is trying to prove their fighting prowess, pulling out due to injury can result in mockery and accusations of being scared.

Therefore, to prove themselves, the competitors often decide to go ahead with the contests, often to their detriment.

With that in mind, according to Brown, McGregor may have saved himself from putting on a performance far below the levels he’s capable of.

He explained: “Realistically, a broken toe is a perfectly fine reason to pull out of a fight. A f***ing broken toe sucks. It hurts. You shouldn’t go in with injuries like that.

“If you’re going to go in and fight Michael Chandler with a broken pinky toe and you can’t put your weight on it, you can’t move around, you can’t do your footwork. Foolish. Pull out of the f***ing fight.”

At this stage of McGregor’s career, he simply can’t afford to lose, with Brown fearful that another defeat could leave the former 2x champion in very dangerous territory.

He said: “If he was in this situation and he was coming off a four-fight win streak, I think this whole conversation would be totally different. He is coming into the fight 1-3 in his last four, he’s right — don’t go in there unless you’re 100 percent. Why would you take that risk?

“Realistically, if he loses to Michael Chandler, his money fights from here on out would be the Jake Pauls, the f***ing sideshow shit. They’re not going to be meaningful fights, that’s what I was getting at. He’ll never have a meaningful fight again [if he loses].”