Chael Sonnen explains why Conor McGregor pinky photo was Viral Moment of the Year: "Our media ate that up"
Chael Sonnen recently explained why he believes Conor McGregor's pinky photo was the Viral Moment of the Year and at the same time, questioned whether it was a legitimate injury. The Irishman's MMA return was expected to take place this year, however, an injury unfortunately halted those plans.
Following his press obligations for the 'Road House' remake, 'The Notorious' was scheduled to return to the octagon for a welterweight clash against Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303. Unfortunately, McGregor was forced to withdraw from the event two weeks prior after suffering a broken pinky toe and posted a photo to his social media.
Despite the photo evidence of the discolored pinky toe, 'The American Gangster' had his doubts that it was even a photo of the Irishman's toe.
During the latest episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy, Sonnen mentioned that McGregor's photo was Viral Moment of the Year and expressed his frustration that the MMA media didn't question the injury in fear of not being in his good graces:
"A discolored pinky toe that may or may not have been broken. And may or may not have even been attached to Conor McGregor. The fact that Conor canceled a fight with the largest box in history...And our media ate that up because they're so scared of Conor. They're so scared that perhaps some day they will need an interview." [5:16]
Check out the full episode featuring Chael Sonnen's comments below:
Chael Sonnen believes Conor McGregor was expecting pushback on his injury
In addition to explaining why Conor McGregor's pinky toe photo was the Viral Moment of the Year, Chael Sonnen said that he believes the former two-division UFC champion was expecting pushback on his injury.
During the aforementioned video, Sonnen compared McGregor's photo to an online scam. However, he ended up being surprised when the public accepted the photo as a valid excuse rather than questioning it and seeking more proof:
"It's kind of like the jerk that loves to take a ticket and he loves to show a ticket...where he made a billion dollars and make everybody jealous. But the one thing those guys don't do is take a picture of themselves holding the ticket...It's a scam, Conor was joking when he put out the pinky toe. He did not mean that to be accepted. He expected to be pushed back on but our media fell for it." [5:16]
Check out Conor McGregor's post announcing his withdrawal from UFC 303 below: