Joe Rogan on Anderson Silva: 'There's a real danger of that leg breaking again'

According to his statements on a radio show, UFC announcer Joe Rogan is still quite wary of a possible return to the octagon for former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Rogan, who is no stranger to martial arts, believes that Silva might very well re-injure the leg that he broke when opponent Chris Weidman checked a kick in their UFC 168 bout. Here's what he told Opie and Anthony on SiriusXM (transcribed by David St. Martin of MMA Fighting):

"Maybe. Dana's a promoter," says Rogan. "He wants [Silva] to fight by the end of the year. Anderson wants to fight, too, but there's a real danger of that thing breaking again. You've got to make sure that it's completely healed up before you check it again. [Opponents] are going to do the exact same thing. Anybody who fights Anderson is going to practice checking kicks like a mother f***er.

"Guys have come back in other sports, but those other sports are very different. They don't involve purposefully trying to break your bones."

Just to refresh your memory, this is what Dana White said about Silva's return at the UFC 169 post-fight press conference:

"Anderson should be walking without crutches here in the next couple weeks, then he'll start training in a few months. We've got to see how he comes back. He is 100% confident that he's coming back.

"He probably won't fight until the end of the year. If everything goes the way that it should, he should be fighting in pretty much the same fight he had this last year."

Silva (33-6) would be 39 if he returns by year-end. White also stated that Silva wants the belt back, but that might be a tad premature at this point.