Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 303 is in dire straights.
Last week, the UFC 303 main event was thrown into turmoil when a planned Dublin press conference for the event was postponed last minute without explanation. That immediately raised concerns that the long-anticipated fight between McGregor and Chandler was suddenly in jeopardy, and reports soon circulated that the promotion was looking into alternate plans for their International Fight Week headliner.
But after a few days of tense speculation, and no official announcement from the UFC, it appeared things were back on track and McGregor would be fighting Chandler on June 29 in Las Vegas. And while officially that is still the case, it’s looking more and more unlikely, per a report from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour.
“On Monday of last week, I would say optimism level was not very high,” Helwani said. “There was some concern, there was some doubt, there were road blocks. I came on this show on Wednesday and said optimism was high. There was great positivity, all those words I used. It felt like we had dodged a bullet, it felt like we had turned a corner.
“On Tuesday, I reported that the UFC was sending out feelers, they were reaching out to fighters and managers to see who could possibly be available to either replace the fight — meaning two new fighters — or step in and replace one of the fighters involved to fight on this card. Obviously the fighter we’re talking about is Conor McGregor, because if not, why would Chandler be ready to go on a plane to Dublin?
“So I said that it seemed we were all good, and by Wednesday, no feelers were being thrown out, no one was talking about this, really. It seemed as though all systems were a go.
“Yesterday morning I started to hear — as I continued to check in because I know there’s a lot of anxiety, a lot of doubt, a lot of concern about this because it’s such a big fight and because no one involved are speaking about this publicly, Chandler did the one interview and I think that squashed some concern, but no one is really talking about this — and I found out, via multiple sources, that they are reaching out to people again. They are reaching out to managers, they are reaching out to fighters, as potential replacements, as a new fight, as backups, as someone stepping in for McGregor, or just as insurance. Just in case. All these things are in play.
“One step further, here we are, Wednesday, 1:15, the positivity that I talked about exactly one week ago today is nowhere to be found. I would say this fight is very much in limbo. I would say it’s hanging on and the UFC is working very, very hard right now to figure out a Plan B. The Plan B could be someone stepping in to fight Chandler, the Plan C could be a whole new fight.”
While there is still no official word on what the obstacles are for this fight, MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin was also able to confirm with sources that the fight is indeed in jeopardy due to an issue with McGregor and that the promotion is looking into all its options. But with UFC 303 just a few weeks away, it’s unclear what replacements are available on this timeline.
