Good luck finding a “Plan B” on two weeks’ notice.
The buildup for UFC 303 is like riding Space Mountain at Disneyworld: You’ll go up, down, and all around but remain in the dark until the very end.
Conor McGregor is supposed to be fighting fellow TUF coach Michael Chandler in the welterweight main event on June 29 in Las Vegas. But the fight is currently “in limbo,” according to MMA insider Ariel Helwani, and matchmakers are scrambling “to figure out a Plan B.”
“The positivity that I talked about exactly one week ago today is nowhere to be found,” Helwani said on The MMA Hour. “I would say this fight is very much in limbo. I would say that it’s hanging on, and I would say 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. If you look at the roster, if you look at who’s available, if you look at the champions who have just fought or who are scheduled to fight, there aren’t a ton of options. There really aren’t.”
Or it could be McGregor trying his very best Ryan Garcia impression.
“The press conference was supposed to be like two weeks ago, and the press conference got crazy,” UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns said on YouTube. “I think, in my opinion, Conor McGregor is pulling up the Ryan Garcia card. You know, trying to act a little bit crazy. We saw a picture of this guy in the hospital. I do think if he had any type of injury and he was in the hospital, for sure the guy is not going to do any post that he’s in the hospital hanging out. I think he’s bluffing. I think he’s good, the fight’s going to happen and just making people overthinking, maybe play with the odds like Ryan Garcia did.”
McGregor and Chandler are deadlocked on the moneyline.