Photo: Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
Conor McGregor has officially been ruled out of his scheduled UFC 303 fight against Michael Chandler due to "an injury," UFC President Dana White announced in a video shared on social media Thursday (June 13) night.
The new main event for the June 29th pay-per-view event will be a light heavyweight bout between Alex Pereira and JiYí Procházkab, White revealed in the video. McGregor's absence from the upcoming event comes 10 days after the UFC abruptly cancelled the press conference in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland, with only several hours notice.
"Dear UFC Fans-- The #UFC303 press conference scheduled for Monday June 3rd in Dublin, Ireland at 3Arena has been postponed until further notice. We sincerely apologize to all the fans who were planning to attend. When we have further information on a new date and time, we will share it immediately. – Thank you," UFC wrote on its X account.
White didn't mention any potential problems during the June 1 UFC 302 event, which included a commercial promoting McGregor's upcoming Las Vegas fight against Michael Chandler, days prior and was expected to attend the press conference in Dublin. Fans quickly blamed McGregor, 35, for the sudden cancelation after a video had previously gone viral showing him partying in a club just weeks ahead of his scheduled bout.
“This statement is unlike anything I’ve ever seen from the UFC before. I speculate a significant change is happening to the card, specifically the McGregor v Chandler fight. It’s the only fight that would warrant this type of reaction," wrote MMA writer Nick Lombardi on his X account.
"What did Conor McGregor do now️, just hours before? Lotta Irish fans gonna wake up pretty angry that thought they were going to this," another user wrote.
McGregor, the first UFC fighter in history to hold two weight class titles simultaneously and one of the biggest stars in the promotion's history, hasn't competed in a UFC fight since losing his second consecutive bout to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy of matches at UFC 264 in July 2021. The Irish fighter has a 22-6-0 career record as a professional fighter.
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