Is Conor McGregor injured? Is he fighting at UFC 303? We still have no confirmation either way, but ‘The Notorious’ just dropped a pile of training footage online to reassure fans.
A UFC 303 press conference on Monday (June 3rd, 2024) was canceled last-minute, and as of Friday, we still don’t know why. Fans have been on high alert ever since, waiting to hear an update on whether that cancellation signaled the cancellation of the card’s main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.
We still have few answers, but the “Mystic Mac” 8 Ball currently says ‘Outlook good’ that the fight will go on. Why else would McGregor drop a big pile of new training footage on his Instagram, if not to re-assure fans that he’s still serious about making the walk in Las Vegas on June 29th?
But let us clarify what we mean when we say ‘new’ training footage. It’s new to us as in we’ve never seen it, but there’s no way to tell if any of it was filmed over the past several days. In fact, the 10 videos Conor shared this morning appear to feature six different training sessions based on his outfits. Who knows when they’re from? There’s certainly no concrete evidence Mac is back in the gym right now.
The reason this all matters? The leading theory on the press conference cancellation and ensuing radio silence from the UFC is that McGregor injured himself but is trying to push through it. He has a history of doing that — he fought Chad Mendes with a torn ACL — so it’s not too far fetched. If that’s the case, figuring out the dates of these training sessions becomes more relevant to the conversation.
Nothing is being said on the record regarding the situation, which is kind of crazy when you consider ESPN is both the UFC’s broadcast partner and one of the biggest sports news outlets in the world. The code of silence lines up with insiders not wanting to out a McGregor injury he’s trying to keep secret. That’s just a jerk move in a sport where injuries get targeted.
But June 29th is approaching fast and the UFC is sitting on over $20 million in customer ticket money that legally becomes refundable the moment the main event falls out. Tick tock.
The Magic 8 Ball gone from ‘Cannot predict now’ to ‘Signs point to yes’ with this latest reassuring McGregor training video dump. But at what point do the fans deserve more answers than a bunch of cryptic social media posts? Especially the fans with expensive tickets and travel plans.