Conor McGregor’s nearly three-year layoff from the UFC is set to get even longer as the Irishman pulled out of his UFC 303 fight against Michael Chandler on Thursday.
UFC President Dana White announced McGregor’s departurewhere it was only said that the Irishman had suffered an injury.
The main event, which will take place on June 29, will be replaced by a light heavyweight title rematch between champion Alex Pereira and former champion Jiri Procházka. Pereira previously defeated Procházka via second-round TKO and won the chronically vacant title at UFC 295 last November.
The co-main event between former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill and Carlos Ulberg will also be replaced by a fight between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes due to Hill’s injury. Ulberg will face Anthony Smith instead.
It was a rough day overall for the UFC as Fight Night scheduled the week before 303 also saw the main event between Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker derailed due to a medical issue with Chimaev. The UFC announced earlier Thursday that Whittaker will face Ikram Aliskerov instead.
McGregor last fought at UFC 264 in July 2021, when he lost a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier via TKO after breaking his tibia at the end of the first round. It’s been over four years since he last won a fight, and almost eight years since he won a title fight.
Conor McGregor has been rumored to pull out of UFC 303 for over a week
Fans hoping for McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 303 first saw red flags when a press conference with Chandler scheduled for June 3 was abruptly postponed, with little explanation from the promotion.
As rumors – and a video of McGregor partying with his fiancee – circulated, McGregor posted on X that ‘a series of obstacles’ had caused the postponement, but insisted he was still looking forward to fighting again .
In consultation with the UFC, today’s press conference was canceled due to a series of obstacles beyond our control. I apologize to my Irish fans and fans around the world for the inconvenience and I appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to get the best…
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 3, 2024
Anyone encouraged by that statement would have subsequently been disheartened when veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported Tuesday that the UFC was putting out feelers for a McGregor replacement or an entirely new fight.
Those concerns subsided over the following week, with Chandler saying all was well in an interview and the UFC promoting the fight as usual on a Fight Night, but Helwani reported the following Tuesday that there had been increased pessimism and that the promotion was once again putting out feelers broadcast for a replacement.
Helwani reported shortly after McGregor’s withdrawal that the former champion had suffered the injury a day or two before that press conference, with McGregor’s camp hoping in vain that he would be able to recover in time.
This latest development is particularly tough on Chandler, who has been more than patient in anticipation of what would be by far the most lucrative fight of his career. Chandler last entered the Octagon in November 2022, when he also lost to Poirier. Months later, he and McGregor were lined up for a fight as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter,” but months passed without an actual fight date. That span included the UFC’s controversial split with the USADA over McGregor’s return to the testing pool.
The fight date was finally announced in April and no one was happier than Chandler.
McGregor remains busy, just not in the UFC
McGregor’s most recent loss to Poirier was a low point in a career that was already on a downward trend, at least when it came to performances in the cage.
McGregor sat on the mat, with a badly broken leg, as he hurled insult after insult and made a gun gesture at Poirier, who remains one of the most popular fighters in the UFC. McGregor had spent the entire pre-fight process making statements about Poirier’s family that clearly crossed a line, to the point that Poirier’s wife Jolie was seen dropping him off as he received medical attention.
It was a soul-searching moment for McGregor, who at that point had lost three of his last four fights, with two losses to Poirier and one to the now-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov. Yes, he was (and still is) the biggest draw in MMA, but the former two-belt champion had never defended either title and was stripped of both due to inactivity.
So McGregor went through a slow recovery process and he certainly didn’t jump back into the UFC as early as possible. Instead, he focused on his considerable business portfolio and made his acting debut as the antagonist in Jake Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of “Road House.”
There were also some accusations, not to mention whatever this was.
And now that three-year road back to the UFC has been extended, and one can only wonder how much longer the promotion can play with a fighter who has defended and conceded them at every turn.
