Conor McGregor is out of UFC 303 due to an injury, UFC chief executive officer Dana White announced on Jun. 13 (United States time).
The nature of the injury, said to be a training injury, has not been made public.
It is unclear when or if the non-title bout between McGregor (22-6) and Chandler (23-8) will occur.
History of match-up
Chandler, a former Bellator MMA champion, called out McGregor back in 2022.
The UFC later announced the two would coach against each other on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series in early 2023.
Word surrounding the fight that would not happen had been going around.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani wrote on X: “McGregor vs. Chandler will be re-booked later this year.”
“The fight has been pushed because McGregor suffered an injury right before last week’s press conference in Dublin."
Helwani, a long-time solid voice in MMA, said "everyone" who was involved did everything in their power to save the fight.
"The plug was officially pulled a little less than 48 hours ago," he claimed.
The UFC had scheduled a public news conference with McGregor and Chandler on Jun. 3 at Dublin’s 3Arena.
But it got cancelled just 12 hours before it was supposed to start, which fuelled speculation about the fight’s status.
Complicating matters was McGregor’s status with the UFC’s former drug testing partner, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), ABC reported.
USADA claimed McGregor’s situation contributed to the end of its partnership with the UFC.
It alleged that the promotion sought to exempt McGregor from a six-month testing requirement following his leg injury.
Other bouts lined up
In lieu of the McGregor-Chandler fight, the new UFC 303 headline bout will be the light heavyweight title clash between Jiri Prochazka and champion Alex Pereira.
They stepped in on short notice, despite Pereira being in Australia now on a seminar tour and "is getting over a couple broken toes", Helwani said.
However, that was not the only match that saw a change.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill is out of his slated fight against Carlos Ulberg.
Anthony Smith will face Ulberg instead.
Hill's original opponent was due to be Khalil Rountree Jr., but a two-month doping ban was slapped on Rountree Jr.
Perhaps to make up for the loss of McGregor's long-awaited UFC return after nearly three years out of action, a new co-main event featuring a matchup of featherweights Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega has been added to the card.
About McGregor's return
McGregor, 35, was preparing for his first fight since July 2021.
His last bout saw him lose his second straight matchup against Dustin Poirier and suffering a broken leg in a TKO loss.
McGregor's last few fights saw mixed results.
He last won when he beat Donald Cerrone in January 2020.
Before that he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
Chandler, 38, has also lost three of his past four bouts.
His most recent action was a defeat against Poirier in November 2022.
Top photos via Conor McGregor Facebook