Conor McGregor will not be making his return to the cage at UFC 303 later this month as planned, and the UFC superstar and former double-champ has now opened up about the situation.
McGregor’s status in the UFC 303 main event on June 29 was brought into question after a pre-fight press conference scheduled for his native Dublin was cancelled at the last minute. After numerous reports resulted in a “will he or won’t he” situation, news finally broke this week that “The Notorious” was out due to injury.
On Saturday, McGregor opened up about the decision to withdraw from his date with Michael Chandler, which is now expected to take place in August or September.
“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,” McGregor wrote on social media. “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!”
As reported by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, the hope is the rebook the fight for August or September. As a result, the UFC is looking at possibly adding a PPV to their schedule to accommodate McGregor’s return. July sees the promotion in the U.K. for UFC 304, while they head to Australia the following month for 305. Neither location makes sense, while UFC 306 takes place at The Sphere in Las Vegas in September. That card is set to mark Mexican Independence Day, similar to Noche UFC last year.
The exact nature of Conor McGregor’s injury has not been reported. The former lightweight and featherweight champ has not competed since breaking his leg in the rubber match of his trilogy with Dustin Poirier in 2021.
