Conor McGregor won't "be able to go out at all" at UFC 303, says UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev recently shared his thoughts on Conor McGregor making his long-awaited return to action against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 later this month. The reigning lightweight champion doesn't believe the fight will go forward and dismissed the possibility of the Irishman making the walk down to the octagon to face Chandler on June 29.
For context, the highly anticipated McGregor-Chandler fight has been booked at UFC 303 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Considering that this will be McGregor's first outing since his ill-fated fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021, many fans are hyped to see MMA's biggest star return to the cage.
Unfortunately, fans' expectations of a blockbuster main event fight were dealt a blow after a pre-fight press conference in Dublin was suddenly canceled without explanation. This was followed by McGregor reportedly withdrawing from all media obligations.
While MMA reporter Ariel Helwani later confirmed that there was no drama behind the presser getting postponed, he also stated that the promotion was looking into potential replacement fights to headline UFC 303. Nevertheless, many theorized that the fight has been called off, and it appears Makhachev is one of them.
During an interview with Ushatayka, the Dagestani grappling phenom expressed pessimism about McGregor returning against Chandler and said:
"I don’t think that even his [McGregor] next fight will take place because we recently saw a video there and recently their press conference was canceled. I don’t think that he will be able to go out at all.”
Watch the full interview below:
Conor McGregor issues apology for canceled UFC 303 press conference in Dublin
Conor McGregor recently addressed the highly anticipated UFC 303 press conference getting postponed indefinitely. The Irishman took to social media and stated that the event was canceled due to "a series of obstacles" outside their control.
In an X post, the former two-division UFC champion promised to put on "the greatest all-time show" for his fans and wrote:
"In consultation with the UFC, today’s press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “I apologize to my Irish fans, and fans around the world, for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon.”