Conor McGregor has never pulled out of a UFC fight in his entire career, but there’s always a first time for everything.
On Thursday, fight fans received the terrible news they’ve been waiting for when UFC CEO, Dana White, announced that McGregor’s long-awaited return at UFC 303 later this month has been officially canceled. White did not go into details, but an injury to McGregor will prohibit him from fighting Michael Chandler on June 29 as planned.
Instead, Alex Pereira will step in on short notice to defend his UFC light heavyweight title in a rematch against Jiri Prochazka as UFC 303’s new main event (details HERE). McGregor vs. Chandler will be rescheduled for a later date this year.
But when exactly can fight fans expect McGregor to return? And more importantly, how healthy will he be after this latest setback?
Luckily, the injury that “Notorious” suffered right before the canceled UFC 303 press conference in Dublin, Ireland earlier this month is not considered severe. This is according to MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, who has been the main source of information throughout this entire UFC 303 debacle.
| Conor McGregors injury is NOT severe and he will likely return in August or September.@arielhelwani says McGregor would probably even push to fight in July if there was a date available. pic.twitter.com/rrHNrpEW8v
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) June 14, 2024
While UFC is actively looking to re-book McGregor’s return for August or September of this year, McGregor could have pushed for a return as soon as July if an event was available. That should ease some concerns about the severity of the injury. Obviously, details about McGregor’s current ailment have not been made public in effort to hide information from Chandler.
Stick with Mania for more updates on McGregor’s current injury.