Conor McGregor is officially out of UFC 303! The McGregor vs Chandler fight has been called off for UFC 303, which will now be main-evented by a rematch between Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochaszka.
UFC president Dana White just announced that the McGregor fight was off owing to an injury suffered by the Irishman. The Pereira-Prochaszka fight will now be the highlight of International Fight Week. The highly awaited rematch will have the light heavyweight title on the line with the Czech fighter looking to exact revenge.
With Conor McGregor out, Dana White had to come up with a blockbuster fight to salvage the UFC 303 card, which was heavily dependent on the return of the Mystic Mac. White did not disappoint and announced the news on X in a video.
The UFC President is on repair mode, trying to salvage the card,
“Conor McGregor is out of 303 vs. Michael Chandler with an injury…The new main event is Alex Pereira….he is facing former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jiri Prochazka.”
UFC 303 International Fight Week June 29th pic.twitter.com/P47PSsKcg0
— danawhite (@danawhite) June 14, 2024
Dana White announced the co-main event of UFC 303 will be Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega, taking on Diego Lopes for a featherweight clash.
The UFC 303 card is still stacked, especially now that it has a title fight as the main event. Alex Pereira wanted to return to action immediately after UFC 300, and so it looks like he finally gets his wish.
However, given that White seemingly knew about the issue for weeks and still continued with the ticket sales, has fans angered.
UFC fans are not happy with Dana White as McGregor skips UFC 303
Dana White is at the receiving end of a lot of hatred from UFC fans. One fan called him out for letting fans book tickets and hotel rooms despite knowing about McGregor’s injury two weeks ago,
“Wow so the rumors from 2 weeks ago were true and you allowed fans to still buy tickets and book flights and hotels? You rock!”
Wow so the rumors from 2 weeks ago were true and you allowed fans to still buy tickets and book flights and hotels? You rock!
— Super Fan (@McGregorRousey2) June 14, 2024
Another fan shared a screenshot of his ticket for UFC 303 and was extremely disappointed,
“this is the worst news ever dana i can’t believe this”
this is the worst news ever dana i can’t believe this pic.twitter.com/OzXC6T0skQ
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) June 14, 2024
Another spoke about how he felt bad for the fans who bought tickets to the fight already. Although UFC 3o3 broke gate records, the prices for the tickets were extremely high,
“Feel bad for people that bought tix already”
Feel bad for people that bought tix already
— Fin Diesel (@Fin_Laden_) June 14, 2024
However, it was not all criticism. Few and far between, there were some who praised Dana White and Alex Pereira for saving the UFC 303 card,
“Actually really good replacement fights. Pereira vs Jiri 2 is going to be a barn burner.”
Actually really good replacement fights. Pereira vs Jiri 2 is going to be a barn burner.
— ModernWarzone (@ModernWarzone) June 14, 2024
Overall, the fans have given mixed reviews regarding the new card. While some consider it an upgrade from the previous card, others are sad to see an injury sideline Conor McGregor again.