Dustin Poirier addresses Conor McGregor's pulling out of UFC 303 due to alleged pinky toe injury: "Not a reason to pull out of a fight"

Dustin Poirier remains the last opponent to face Conor McGregor, as the latter has not competed since breaking his leg when the two clashed at UFC 264 three years ago. 'The Notorious' appeared set to make his highly anticipated return to the octagon against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 last month. However, he withdrew from the bout after breaking his pinky toe.

'The Diamond' recently addressed his former opponent pulling out of the bout, claiming that a pinky toe is not a sufficient reason to do so. Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the No.4-ranked lightweight stated:

"Dude, a pinky toe? It's like, I've fought with so much injuries. Like Conor said he's fought with a lot of injuries he doesn't want to - I've fought with a lot of injuries over the years, but a pinky toe doesn't seem like a reason to pull out of a fight, you know? But also I don't know - like giving him his respect, I also don't know the severity of it."

Poirier continued:

"Did he damage ligaments? Is it his muscle in his foot? You know, there's a lot of stuff going on inside of a foot. There's a lot of small bones so I don't know. If it's just a pinky toe, I think that's kind of, you know, not a reason to pull out of a fight."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments on Conor McGregor below:

Conor McGregor remains without a return date. However, he has teased that he would like to compete in August or September. It is unclear if the UFC wants the bout to headline UFC 306, which is set to take place at The Sphere in September. 'The Notorious' had previously claimed he wanted to compete on the card, which will mark the promotion's first event at the venue.

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Michael Chandler advised to move on from Conor McGregor bout

Michael Chandler has spent much of the past two years waiting on a clash with Conor McGregor.

Amid his claims that he has been offered the opportunity to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title, Matt Brown advised the No.6-ranked lightweight to move on from the former double champ. Speaking on his podcast, The Fighter vs. The Writer, 'The Immortal' stated:

"This sport moves too quickly. I think he's just got to take it. It's insane. What if Conor does say, 'okay, I'm good for September', he turns down the Islam fight, fights Conor. Let's say he goes out there and starches Conor real quick and easy, Islam may have moved on by then and again, beating Conor isn't necessarily going to get you a title shot next so now you've got to go work your way against another couple guys."

Brown added:

"I'm betting Chandler's already made up his mind and he's doing the Islam fight. He's just talking s**t to Conor now, just kind of poking Conor a little bit. It wouldn't make any sense not to do this. Michael Chandler needed Conor. Now, he's got a title shot. Now, he doesn't need Conor. Get the f**king title shot. F**k Conor. Go!"

Check out Matt Brown's comments on Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor below:

While Chandler claimed that he had been offered a title opportunity, he did note that he wants to compete at UFC 306 if McGregor is recovered. Makhachev, meanwhile, brushed off the call out from 'Iron', claiming he will run away from the matchup as soon as 'The Notorious' tweets him.