Too soon? Joe Rogan disagrees with Dana White's timeline for Anderson Silva's UFC return

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva snapped his leg in two by firing in a low kick against Chris Weidman in the UFC 168 main event last December in Las Vegas, Nevada. While "The Spider" required emergency surgery to put his bones back together, he should be able to return to the Octagon later this year.

Or not.

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan is not as optimistic as promotion president Dana White, who is pulling for the Brazilian to get back to the fight game as soon as he can. In fact, the former "Fear Factor" host isn't entirely convinced the ex-champ's leg is not in danger of breaking a second time.

From his appearance on Opie & Anthony (via MMA Fighting):

"Dana's a promoter. He wants him 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 fucker. Guys have come back in other sports, but those other sports are very different. They don't involve purposefully trying to break your bones."

Silva's surgeon estimates that it could take up to a year just to throw a leg kick.

"The Spider" recently had his cast removed (pic) and is expected to be walking without crutches by the end of the month. That still does not take into account his ability to train, grapple (leg locks) or spar, things fellow leg-breaker Cory Hill warned could be just as difficult to overcome mentally, as they are physically.

Time will tell.