Dana White announced Thursday night that Conor McGregor’s return to the octagon will not happen at UFC 303, as he is out of his fight against Michael Chandler following an injury.
A report from MMA journalist Ariel Helwani earlier Thursday said all signs were pointing to McGregor being out of the main event to the point where it was just a “formality.”
“It’s not 100% off but I’d be extremely surprised at this point if it remains and they are actively negotiating with multiple camps to find a replacement,” Helwani posted on X. “It’s all up in the air still but they are proceeding at this time like they need a replacement.”
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(L-R) Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler face off during the filming of The Ultimate Fighter at UFC APEX on March 3, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
McGregor hinted on his Instagram story on Wednesday night that he may be injured.
There was also a news conference in Dublin, Ireland, on June 3 that was canceled just 12 hours before it was set to start.
It’s unclear what injury McGregor is dealing with.
With McGregor and Chandler no longer headlining the competition, White announced there will be a co-main event, starting with Alex Pereira facing off against Jiri Prochazka.
CONOR MCGREGOR’S UFC RETURN APPEARS TO BE GETTING CANCELED: ‘JUST A FORMALITY AT THIS POINT’
As White said, Pereira is the only fighter in UFC history to win both the middleweight and light heavyweight title belts, and he did it in 736 days over seven fights, which is the shortest amount of time in history as well.
Pereira has won 10 of his last 11 fights.
Brazil’s Alex Pereira arrives for a middleweight bout against Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya at the UFC 281 mixed martial arts event on Nov. 13, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
As for Prochazka, he’s a former light heavyweight champion as well, currently owning 23 first-round wins. He is 30-4-1 for his career with 25 wins by knockout and three by submission for a 97% finish rate.
Rounding out the co-main event is No. 3-ranked featherweight Brian Ortega, who has the second-most finishes in featherweight history and the second-most submissions in the weight class as well. Ortega is 16-3 with eight total submissions on his UFC stat sheet.
He’ll be going head-to-head with Diego Lopes, who has seen 22 of his 24 victories by finish. He’s knocked out 10 opponents and had 12 others submit with an overall 24-6 record.
Conor McGregor attends Game Four of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat on June 9, 2023, at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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So, while McGregor’s hiatus from the UFC must continue, White will still be putting on a show in Las Vegas on June 29.
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