The much-anticipated bout was scheduled to take place just two weeks from now.
Conor McGregor’s upcoming fight with Michael Chandler is no longer going ahead.
UFC President Dana White announced the cancellation on X earlier this morning.
UFC 303 International Fight Week June 29th pic.twitter.com/P47PSsKcg0
— danawhite (@danawhite) June 14, 2024
In a video posted to the social media site, White said: “Conor McGregor is out of UFC 303 with an injury. It has been a crazy week here at UFC.”
The fight was scheduled to take place on June 29 in Las Vegas, and White confirmed that the event will still go ahead with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira stepping in to face Jiri Prochazka as the new main event.
The match would have been McGregor’s first time in the Octagon since July 2021, when the Irishman suffered a broken leg against Dustin Poirier.
McGregor vs Chandler was initially announced in February 2023, but speculation has grown in recent weeks around whether or not the fight would go ahead after a Dublin press conference was cancelled earlier this month.
White hasn’t revealed any further details about the nature of McGregor’s injury, and it seems as though Chandler was unaware of the cancellation ahead of this morning’s announcement, as last night he posted the following on X.
#mmafactoftheday – Amount of times these fighters have pulled out of fights in their entire careers.@TheNotoriousMMA – 0@MikeChandlerMMA – 0#ufc303
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) June 13, 2024
While McGregor has been busy making Hollywood blockbusters this year, Chandler is set to miss out on what would have been the biggest payday of his career.
The 38-year-old only joined the UFC in late 2019, having held the Bellator lightweight belt three times prior.
Chandler and McGregor were coaches in last year’s edition of The Ultimate Fighter, where the American’s team of fighters comfortably beat McGregor’s over the course of the season.
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