Conor McGregor Confirms Injury Forced Him out of UFC 303 amid Rumors: 'Very Tough'

Conor McGregor has confirmed he suffered an injury that resulted from him being forced out of the UFC 303 main event against Michael Chandler.

In a post on Instagram, McGregor wrote it was "very tough" and the injury occurred before a press conference for the event that was scheduled to take place in Dublin on June 3:

"Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout. I picked up an injury prior to the press conference that required more time to heal than was available to me. The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team. My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I'll be back!"

UFC president Dana White announced on Thursday that the McGregor-Chandler bout was off because of an injury to the Notorious One.

There had been speculation since the cancelation of the press conference about McGregor's availability.

In what may be an indication of how much UFC kept working to save the fight, Chandler was posting training videos a few hours before White made his announcement.

While McGregor has confirmed he suffered an injury, it's still unclear what the injury is or how it occurred.

It doesn't seem like the injury is a long-term concern. MMA insider Ariel Helwani reported there isn't a new date for the McGregor-Chandler bout yet, but UFC is hoping to schedule it for August or September.

McGregor was poised to step back into the octagon for the first time since suffering a fractured leg in his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.

It's been a long, winding path to get McGregor and Chandler in the octagon together. White first announced in February 2023 that UFC was building to a match between the two after they served as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.

There was no date or location for the bout in place at that point. White officially announced the fight would take place on June 29 during the UFC 300 post-show press conference in April.

UFC has several major events scheduled through October. The only numbered shows during that span without a confirmed location right now are UFC 306 and 307. UFC 306 is expected to be held at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14.

White told reporters last month that the gate for UFC 303 had already set a company record with more than $20 million worth of tickets sold.