Later this month, UFC 303 will culminate International Fight Week and capping off the fan-filled weekend will be the biggest star in the history of the sport. Former two-division champion Conor McGregor (22-6) is supposed to make his return against top contender Michael Chandler (23-8).
The two men coached opposite each other last season on The Ultimate Fighter and this fight is over a year in the making. McGregor will be fighting for the first time since he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier nearly three years ago. Chandler will be fighting for the first time since he lost to Dustin Poirier about a year and a half ago.
On Monday, there was supposed to be a UFC 303 press conference in Dublin, Ireland. The event was a free ticket event and sold out with nearly 10,000 fans expected for the event. However, late Sunday night, the promotion announced that the press conference was postponed until further notice.
McGregor apologized to the fans on social media and Chandler has continued to post training videos on his social media. Then, there’s been increased speculation regarding a Conor McGregor injury and whether or not the fight would even happen. There’s been no confirmed reports, but Ariel Helwani poured some gasoline on the fire this afternoon.
UFC 303 Main Event in Jeopardy
Despite the comment of there being positivity, this certainly doesn’t sound positive for the fight. The UFC has already begun working on a backup plan. They had recently posted some of Conor McGregor’s old fights for free on their YouTube page to promote the fight and those have been pulled. In addition, there’s been a pullback on some of the promotional materials regarding UFC 303.
As you can see from Helwani, the promotion has already started putting out feelers for a replacement fight to take over the head of the card. The UFC runs a real risk with any Conor McGregor card because they never stack it the way they do other cards. Now, if McGregor is out, they’ll be scrambling to find a replacement fight for one of their biggest cards of the year.
Here’s what I think is happening and this is not confirmed. I do believe that McGregor has some form of an injury. McGregor posted on Instagram earlier today and the post was one of being grateful. With there being some positivity per Helwani, I think whatever McGregor’s injury is, it’s not serious enough to cancel the fight yet.
I think McGregor will train over the coming days or attempt to train. If he can go, the fight will go on. However, if he can’t, you’ll see him pull out of the fight and Michael Chandler will have to continue waiting. Obviously, nothing is official until it’s announced by Dana White in the UFC, but there’s certainly reason to be concerned as of right now.