Conor McGregor‘s UFC comeback has been put on hold — the “Notorious” is OUT of his UFC 303 main event fight against Michael Chandler.
UFC honcho Dana White announced the devastating news late Thursday night — just two weeks and a day before the scrap — saying 35-year-old McGregor suffered an injury, and wouldn’t be able to fight. The nature of the injury isn’t known at this time.
UFC 303 International Fight Week June 29th pic.twitter.com/P47PSsKcg0
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38-year-old Chandler is also off the July 29th card … as the UFC will now attempt to rebook the fight at a later date.
Despite the announcement coming tonight, it was clear to MMA fans that something was wrong. A big press conference was scheduled in Dublin to promote the fight, but was called off at the last minute … without any reason why.
In fact, Chandler was minutes from boarding a flight to Ireland for the media event … but was alerted of the change just in time to stay in the States.
Now, unfortunately, we know.
But, all isn’t lost. The UFC worked quickly … and have now booked a rematch between light heavyweight champ (and former middleweight title holder) Alex Pereira and former champ Jiri Prochazka.
The men previously fought at UFC 295. AP won the fight.
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The UFC also has installed Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes as the co-main event.
Although they’re two very good fights — maybe great — it’s still a crushing night for fans who were anticipating the return of McGregor, the former champ-champ who hasn’t fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
Story developing …