Conor McGregor in ‘good spirits’ after dropping out of UFC 303 with injury

16/06/2024

After the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler saga came to a temporary end, we’re finally starting to get some clarity as to why.

On Friday, president Dana White announced that the bout set to headline UFC 303 was officially off due to an injury for the Irishman.

Although McGregor didn’t divulge specifics on what ailment caused him to postpone his first fight in nearly three years, he did share some perspective.

“Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout,” the former two-division champion said in a statement via his Instagram. “I picked up an injury prior to the press conference that required more time to heal than was available to me.”

The 35-year-old has not fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July of 2021. His only win since 2016 was a 2020 TKO of Donald Cerrone.

“The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team,” McGregor continued.

McGregor vs. Chandler was first officially announced back in April even though the pair had been slated to meet ever since coaching opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter reality series.

Chandler, 38, has not fought since being submitted by Poirier at UFC 281 in 2022. The American has stayed consistent that he’d rather wait for this McGregor matchup to come to fruition as opposed to agreeing to face a different opponent.

First indications of the superstar fight not going ahead as planned arose once a press conference, scheduled for earlier in the month in McGregor’s native Dublin, was called off at the 11th hour.

Since that last-minute cancellation, concerns over the bout grew rampant. And the speculation ended up proving true as fans are now left with an overhauled card for UFC 303 on June 29.

Current light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, as he did ahead of April’s historic UFC 300, will step up on short notice to headline the event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Pereira will face former light-heavyweight titleholder Jiri Prochazka in a rematch of a UFC 295 bout. Pereira knocked out Prochazka in November when they headlined at Madison Square Garden.

Combat sports reporter Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting reported Thursday the plan is to re-book McGregor vs. Chandler later this year, possibly in August or September.

“My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there,” McGregor concluded. “I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!”

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