The broken toe Conor McGregor suffered during the final weeks of his training camp forced a dramatic shift in UFC 303’s main event, with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira stepping up on short notice to save the day for a rematch against Jiri Prochazka.
Pereira actually suffered a well-documented broken toe of his own prior to his previous fight at UFC 300, but he remained on the historic card and ultimately knocked out Jamahal Hill in the first round. Barely two months later, Pereira fights again — this time with only a couple of weeks to prepare to defend his belt — but the eight-fight UFC veteran didn’t hesitate to accept when the promotion came calling.
So how does he feel about McGregor dropping out of a fight with the same injury that he fought through at UFC 300?
“You can never judge people’s pain,” Pereira said of McGregor during UFC 303 media day. “Different scenarios, different situations.”
The way Pereira sees it, he still has a lot of work to do before he’s even close to McGregor’s level of wealth and financial security. With that kind of cushion, McGregor technically never has to fight another day in his life, which allows him to sit out when he’s not at full health.
Pereira doesn’t feel like he has that same option right now, but perhaps his choice to compete at UFC 300 would’ve been different with hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in his bank account.
“He made his name. He made his money. He made his life,” Pereira said. “I’m kind of halfway there. So I fought with the broken toe due to my situation, but maybe if I was in his situation, I would not have fought. So I cannot judge.”
Alex Pereira reacts to Conor McGregor dropping off UFC 303 with broken toe after he just fought with same injury - MMA Fighting
