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 night.

According to the UFC president, the Irishman had to pull out of 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 will be former featherweight champion Brian Ortega vs. rising star Diego Lopes.

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

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

The bout between McGregor and Chandler was set to be the former's triumphant return after not fighting since 2021, but he will now have to wait to come back to the sport.

There is optimism that the contest will take place at a later date, as MMA Hour's Ariel Helwani reported there have been discussions about moving it to August or September.

Of course, that timeframe could change depending on the severity of McGregor's injury, which White did not give details about.

While the card for UFC 303 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.