Conor McGregor is not going to be returning to the octagon at UFC 303 in opposition to Michael Chandler and a brand new primary occasion for the June 29 occasion has been introduced.
McGregor has been compelled out of the anticipated match because of harm. UFC CEO Dana White formally introduced the information in a social media video on Thursday. Moving into the primary occasion slot is a middleweight title bout rematch between champion Alex Pereira and former titleholder Jiri Prochazka.
“Conor McGregor is out of (UFC) 303 versus Michael Chandler with an harm,” White stated within the video. “The brand new primary occasion is Alex Pereira, former, not solely UFC middleweight champion, he is additionally the primary and solely fighter to win each middleweight and light-weight heavyweight titles in UFC historical past. He additionally did it within the shortest period of time. He did it in 736 days in seven fights. He completed seven of 9 wins by knockout, which is a 78-percent end fee, and gained 10 of his final 11 fights. He’s going through former UFC mild heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka, who has an unbelievable 23 first-round wins.
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Pereira and Prochazka first fought at UFC 295 in November 2023 with Pereira stopping Prochazka through TKO within the second spherical. Prochazka felt the stoppage was untimely.
The McGregor and Chandler battle had been within the making since they coached The Final Fighter 31 as opposing coaches final yr. McGregor has been out of motion since breaking his leg in a trilogy bout in opposition to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. His withdraw got here after weeks of hypothesis after a press convention selling the occasion in Dublin was abruptly canceled on the final minute earlier this month. The severity of the harm stays unclear.
