Breaking – Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler officially off, new UFC 303 main event revealed
It’s official, Conor McGregor’s “greatest comeback in combat sports history” will not happen on June 29.
After nearly three years on the shelf, the Irish megastar was set to square off with Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303. Unfortunately, that is no longer the plan with CEO Dana White revealing on Thursday that McGregor was forced to withdraw due to an injury. The nature of the injury is not known at this time.
As a result, the new main event is a light-heavyweight championship rematch between reigning titleholder Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.
White also announced a few new matchups for the Las Vegas-based card. Diego Lopes will square off with ‘T-City’ Brian Ortega in the co-main event and Jamahal Hill will face Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith.
Hill’s originally scheduled opponent, Carlos Ulberg, was also ruled out due to injury.
The UFC has not announced whether the welterweight clash between McGregor and Chandler will be rescheduled, though MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani reported that the promotion is looking to rebook the bout for either August or September.
Conor McGregor has not competed inside the Octagon since a July 2021 trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
Conor McGregor’s Withdrawal paves way for light heavyweight title rematch
Pereira and Prochazka will step into the main event spotlight a mere 10 weeks removed from their last outings at UFC 300 on April 13. There, ‘BJP’ scored a sensational come-from-behind KO against Aleksandar Rakić in the evening’s featured prelims.
Headlining the landmark event, ‘Poatan’ provided fans with another viral moment, knocking out ex-titleholder Jamahal Hill in highlight-reel fashion.
Check out their full first meeting at UFC 295 below:
