Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler will no longer fight at UFC 303. On Thursday, UFC president Dana White revealed McGregor suffered an injury and is the reason for the sudden cancellation.
The UFC 303’s main event will now be a Light Heavyweight title match between champion Alex Pereira and No. 1 challenger Jiří Procházka. The co-main event will be a Featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes.
The road to UFC 303 has been littered with potholes. Last week, the UFC canceled a press conference between McGregor and Chandler in Dublin, Ireland for unspecified reasons. Over 10,000 fans were reportedly expected to be in attendance.
After the UFC announced the cancellation, McGregor attempted to provide an explanation to fans online.
“In consultation with the UFC, todays press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control,” McGregor wrote on X. “I apologize to my Irish fans, and fans around the world, for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon.”
The rumor mill immediately began to turn. However, Chandler soothed fans’ concerns when he went on The Pivot podcast and addressed the issue.
“The fight’s happening,” Chandler told Ryan Clark. “Obviously, where we are right now – there’s a lot of speculation, but the fight is on. June 29. It’s happening.”
Dustin Poirier weighs in on the highly-anticipated bout
Evidently, Chandler spoke too soon. While McGregor and Chandler won’t fight in June, the bout isn’t necessarily canceled permanently. If McGregor and Chandler do meet in the Octagon in the future, fellow UFC fighter Dustin Poirier believes Conor McGregor will come out on top.
“Yeah, both of those guys’ last fight was me,” Poirier said on First Take. “And even Chandler has had a little bit of a layoff … From my experience of being in there with them and just knowing the sport, if Conor is anywhere similar to where he was before the injury with his timing, with his accuracy, the stylistic matchup with Michael Chandler, I think he clips him.
“Chandler covers too much distance, not properly, not the best footwork, lunging in with shots and that’s how you get countered. That’s how you if Conor is the matador and has the same timing and pop that he had before the injury. Conor is going to stop this guy.”
On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this article.
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