Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler UFC 303 Fight Canceled; New main event revealed

The UFC 303 main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler has been canceled, Dana White announced Thursday evening.

According to the UFC president, the Irishman had to withdraw from the fight due to an injury.

Instead, the new main event will be Alex Pereira vs. Jiří Prochazka for the light heavyweight title. The co-main event pits former featherweight champion Brian Ortega against rising star Diego Lopes.

The previous co-main event, a fight between Jamahal Hill and Carlos Ulberg, was replaced due to an injury to Hill.

The cancellation of McGregor vs. Chandler was an expected decision in recent days. After a press conference for the event was suddenly canceled last week, the fight appeared to be in jeopardy. When the UFC began looking for replacements on Thursday, it all but confirmed the fate of the event.

The fight between McGregor and Chandler was expected to be the former’s triumphant return after not fighting since 2021, but he will now have to wait to return to the sport.

There is optimism that the competition will take place at a later date, as MMA TimeAriel Helwani of Ariel Helwani reported that there had been discussions to move it to August or September.

Of course, that timeline could change depending on the severity of McGregor’s injury, which White didn’t elaborate on.

Even though the UFC 303 card has changed drastically, it should still be an entertaining event thanks to the fight between Pereira and Procházka. They last fought in November when Pereira won via TKO for the light heavyweight championship.