The highly anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight, initially set for UFC 303 on June 29, was officially cancelled.
The bout, which was to be a showdown between the recent Ultimate Fighter 31 coaches, was scrapped following the cancellation of a pre-fight press conference, sparking immediate speculation about the fight’s status. McGregor’s withdrawal due to injury has now been confirmed, pulling the match from the card.
McGregor issued the following statement about this situation:
“Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout. I picked up an injury prior to the press conference that required more time to heal than was available to me. The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team. My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!”
After this happened, UFC Veteran Chael Sonnen claimed that McGregor is in rehab and not injured. This led to McGregor revealing that he suffered a broken toe and even shared photos.
Here’s what McGregor posted:
“Chael shut your pie hole, h*e. You tap from ground and pound.”
“We had a lapse in concentration and engaged in a training session without wearing the full protective gear and I hit the toe off the elbow and broke the toe clean. It needs a few weeks, that’s it.
I couldn’t justify to my team, or fans, that I make the walk hindered again. That walk has been seen. This next walk has got to be, and it will be, 100% Conor McGregor. The fans deserve it and we are getting close. A slight lapse in concentration and a nuisance of an injury was picked up. That’s it. Take the lesson and move forward. I will get this back. I’ve got two fights left on my contract.
See ya at the top. Chandler or not.”
To the people saying Chandler shouldn’t wait for the McGregor fight anymore, Conor replied:
“Chandler is getting paid 10x of what his contract states for other fights. Meaning he would need to fight 10 fights to make what he would make in this one. I’m The One.
For those saying he could have fought 2 or 3 times by now etc. He’d need 10 to break even with this cheque.”
Ariel Helwani is reporting that Conor’s injury is not severe and UFC is hoping for him to fight Chandler in August or September.
McGregor recently took a shot at UFC 302, main evented by Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier for the UFC Lightweight Championship, drawing 500,000 pay-per-view buys. He tweeted:
“500k ppv buys 302 done. A nothing burger.”
After McGregor pulled out of UFC 303, Dustin took a shot at him by tweeting:
“#NothingBurger”
The new main event of UFC 303 will see Alex Pereira defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Jiri Prochazka. Pereira, a former Middleweight Champion, has been dominant at 205 pounds, claiming the title with a knockout over Prochazka in 2023 and defending it with a finish of Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. Prochazka, looking to avenge his previous loss, comes into the fight following a second-round knockout of Aleksandar Rakic at the same UFC 300 event.
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