Beneil Dariush has questioned why Conor McGregor has yet to return from the broken leg he suffered 15 months ago.
McGregor suffered the injury in a second consecutive defeat by Dustin Poirier last July and has been documenting his rehabilitation in training. The Irishman was forced to have surgery and was initially eyeing a comeback to the octagon later this year but any octagon return will now be delayed until next year.
Setbacks are understood to have occurred during McGregor's comeback schedule which will see him likely return to 170lb after putting on weight during the recovery process. But lightweight contender Beneil Dariush suffered the same injury in February and believes McGregor should have recovered by now.
Dariush will make a return to the cage this weekend against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, and has questioned whether McGregor's new acting role in the remake of action classic Road House is delaying his return. “The break is the same break I had. I was ready to fight in August,” Dariush told talkSPORT when asked about McGregor's recovery process.
“I don’t know how badly he wants to get back into that octagon. I wish him well. I hope he gets better and gets back into the Octagon and fights. I don’t know if his desire is really there because we had the same break. I broke my fibula; he broke his fibula. Just with therapy, I was back in training, and I could’ve fought at the end of August. I really don’t know what’s going on with Conor Obviously, he’s doing movies and for MMA fighters I don’t know if that is a good thing.”
McGregor has been filming in the Dominican Republic for his starring role, but has been regularly documenting his recovery including recent footage from his training. McGregor made a return to his gym earlier this year but has yet to make enough progress to resume full MMA work despite having sparred with teammate Cian Cowley.
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He has talked up a return at 170lb which could include an immediate title shot against Leon Edwards who could be available after he faces a trilogy bout with Kamaru Usman. During talk of his return, he also promised the "greatest comeback in history" on social media as fans began building anticipation for next year.
And he even made a fresh boast in a recent Instagram post, writing: "I’ve truly developed a nowhere to go for my opponent scenario. I am telling you. I am light years ahead. And I’m always hunting the neck. And I don’t give a f*** where we end up, I’ll hurt you. Praise be to Helio Gracie there is a billion ways to win a fight! This is all only the beginning."
