Conor McGregor confirming a broken toe dubbed "pathetic" by former Bellator fighter: "Rehab was a better excuse"

Conor McGregor has been criticised by a former Bellator fighter after revealing his reason for pulling out of his UFC 303 bout against Michael Chandler was due to a broken toe.

The Irishman had been set to make his highly anticipated return on June 29 but it was confirmed last week that he had been forced to withdraw from the fight. Speculation began circling about the reasons as to why McGregor was unable to fight, with some reports suggesting it may have been due to him entering rehab.

McGregor didn't wait long to squash those rumors, however, as he took to Instagram to confirm that he had infact broken his toe whilst training. He also noted that for the first time in his career, he wanted to step into the octagon without injury. He wrote:

"Man we were so f*cking super ready for this fight it is absolutely gut wrenching to take...We had a lapse in concentration and engaged in a training session without wearing the full protective gear and I hit the toe off the elbow and broke the toe clear."

Check out the injury and McGregor's comments here, courtesy of MMAJunkie:

Whilst a majority of the MMA community were disappointed but understanding of Conor McGregor's reasons for pulling out, one person who didn't agree was former Bellator fighter Joe Schilling.

Schilling responded to the above post on Instagram and labeled the Irishman's excuse as "pathetic." He wrote:

"Rehab was a better excuse this is pathetic"

Check out Schilling's comment here:

Joe Schilling's comment

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Stephen Thompson offers Conor McGregor words of encouragement following injury

Stephen Thompson has offered some words of encouragement to Conor McGregor, following the Irishman revealing the injury that has kept him out of his UFC 303 clash against Michael Chandler.

'Wonderboy' and McGregor have struck up a friendship over recent years, with 'The Notorious' enlisting the help of the welterweight veteran whilst coaching on season 31 of 'The Ultimate Fighter' last year.

Following McGregor sharing the news of his injury on Instagram, Thompson was spotted in the comments and shared a message of support to the former UFC champ, stating he is excited to see him back in the cage soon. He wrote:

"Injuries suck but unfortunately they are a part of the sport. Excited to see you back in the Octagon! Heal up champ"

Catch Stephen Thompson's comment here:

Stephen Thompson's comment