UFC Needs To Be Transparent About UFC 303: McGregor Vs. Chandler

There have been doubts surrounding Conor McGregor’s return to the UFC for a long while. When the UFC announced that McGregor would face Micheal Chandler in the main event of UFC 303, some of that uneasiness dissipated. However, when the UFC postponed Monday’s UFC 303 press conference, a sense of nervousness was again in the air.

The 35-year-old McGregor has not fought since he broke his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 264 in July 2021. McGregor underwent surgery to repair the damage to that limb.

During his time off, McGregor left the UFC drug testing pool. During that time, McGregor played a role in the Road House remake. In October 2023, McGregor rejoined the drug testing pool. Since then he has logged 15 “test sessions” according to the UFC’s online records. There has been no news of any issues with McGregor’s drug testing.

McGregor faces Chandler in a welterweight scrap at UFC 303, which takes place on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Everything seemed to be moving smoothly toward the fight going off as scheduled until last week when videos of McGregor seemingly partying at a club ahead of UFC 303 made the rounds on social media.

UFC CEO Dana White dismissed those videos on Saturday, saying at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference. “I don’t know what’s real on the internet and not real on the internet,” said White. “Conor’s not a dumb guy. This is obviously a big fight for him. He’s calling this the best comeback in the history of sports.”

What no one could dismiss was that the UFC pulled the plug on the UFC 303 press conference 12 hours before that event was scheduled to take place in front of a packed house at 3Arena in Dublin.

Not long after McGregor released a statement of his own.

Since then, there has been nothing but silence.

The Silence Around UFC 303 is Worrying

That silence is worrisome. McGregor’s statement makes it seem like everything will be fine, and that UFC 303 will take place as scheduled. However, the UFC has offered no such assurances. There’s been nothing on social media from the promotion and no comforting message from Dana White.

With tickets for UFC 303 largely sold out and the promotion looking at a record-breaking gate of $20 million, one would think that if the event was a lock with McGregor and Chandler as its headlining bout, there would be some type of communication to the fans, many of whom will be traveling to the event from outside the Las Vegas area. That there has been nothing on that front is making a lot of fans and media members nervous.

One person uncomfortable with what is happening is former UFC champion and current UFC commentator, Daniel Cormier.

“Start to brace yourself a little bit for disappointment,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news. Dana White will argue and scream at the media. Dana White will give the media a hard time. Dana White has no problem letting the media down. You know who Dana White doesn’t like letting down? The fans. …

“To me, it feels like this is a big deal. I have reached out to many in the organization to try to find out what happened, and when everyone is as tight-lipped as they are right now, to me that tells me it’s a little worrisome.”

UFC Needs To Be Transparent About UFC 303

Fights fall out all the time, and the UFC is usually very good at communicating with all its stakeholders when something goes awry. The silence around UFC 303 is not the norm.

I understand the UFC will take an enormous fiscal hit if the McGregor vs. Chandler fight falls through, but the promotion will recover from that. One thing the UFC doesn’t want to do, as Cormier pointed out, is disappoint its fans. The longer the promotion remains silent on whatever is going on, the more likely that disappointment will happen, and the slimmer the chances will be that those fans can change their plans without expense.

Transparency is sometimes painful, but it’s usually the proper approach. If something has happened with the main event of UFC 303, the UFC will be better served to announce it sooner rather than later.

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