Conor McGregor’s opponent Michael Chandler shares cryptic post as UFC 303 questions linger
As uncertainty mounts about Conor McGregor’s status for his UFC 303 main-event fight in Las Vegas, his opponent is sending subtle messages.
Michael Chandler shared a cryptic Instagram post on Tuesday featuring photos of him training for the June 29 fight after Monday’s UFC 303 press conference in Dublin was abruptly canceled the day of with no reason given.
“If you’re looking for me, I’ll be out in Tennessee. No way out of the life we chose,” Chandler, 38, wrote. “Walk On. See you at the top!”
It’s unclear if the Dublin press conference will be rescheduled.
McGregor, 35, addressed the cancellation in an X post Monday afternoon.
“In consultation with the UFC, todays press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control,” McGregor wrote. “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.”
McGregor, who has never pulled out of a scheduled UFC fight, was last seen partying with fiancée Dee Devlin at the bar he owns in Dublin, The Black Forge Inn, over Memorial Day weekend.
The mystery surrounding the press conference cancellation has led fans to wonder if McGregor will actually make his return to the octagon three weeks from Saturday.
Reporter Ariel Helwani said on his YouTube show, The MMA Hour, that there are no “outside-of-athletics” reasons for the press conference being canceled and that there was no drug-testing issue.
“Nothing with regards to any sort of legal issue, incident of any kind, drama of any kind, criminal thing of any kind, fight of any kind, alcohol, this, that — none of that is at play here,” Helwani said Monday. “There is no salacious story. There is no great drama. There is no great theater. There is no story. Nothing’s gonna come out. There’s no egg on anyone’s face.”
Chandler was about to head to the airport in Nashville when he got word of an issue with the press conference, Helwani said, and when it was canceled he instead flew to Florida to continue training.
On Tuesday, Helwani wrote on X that there’s hope the fight will still take place and there’s “positivity” in that direction, but the UFC has also “sent out feelers to see who might be able to fill in, either as a replacement or an entirely new fight at the top of the bill.”
The anticipation for this fight has been building for a while as McGregor and Chandler were opposing coaches on the 31st season of “The Ultimate Fighter” that aired last summer.
And McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on July 10, 2021.
Chandler’s last fight was also a loss to Poirier at UFC 281 on Nov. 12, 2022.
