Teammate Paul Hughes reveals Michael Chandler’s immediate reaction to the UFC 303 press conference with Conor McGregor being pulled.
Despite allegedly knowing of the UFC 303 press conference cancelation in advance, albeit on short notice, Michael Chandler reportedly had a confused reaction to the enormous media opportunity being canceled at the last minute.
UFC 303 main event stars post yet more cryptic messages online
In the aftermath of the UFC 303 press conference, featuring Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor, being pulled; a seemingly infinite amount of conspiracy theories have been shared online.
Yet both athletes certainly aren’t helping quell the concern, or the confusion, with Chandler and McGregor posting rather cryptic messages online within the past 24 hours.
‘Notorious’ opted to simply share a picture of his family with the caption, “Thank you, God” – whilst Chandler seemingly confirmed that he had left his training camp in Florida to travel to his home in Tennessee.
Teammate reveals Chandler’s reaction to conference cancelation
Surging Irish MMA star Paul Hughes has been training in Florida alongside Michael Chandler ahead of his PFL/Bellator debut later this month.
Speaking in an interview with SevereMMA, Hughes revealed Chandler’s immediate reaction to the UFC 303 press conference being canceled at the last minute and surprise, surprise; the first thing ‘Iron’ did was get back in the gym.
“I’ve seen Mike yeah, Mike doesn’t stop, Mike’s in the gym every day regardless… I saw him on Monday morning, and I was like ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in Ireland?’, you know I was giving him a history lesson on Ireland and all getting him prepared.”
Hughes admitted that Chandler himself “didn’t really know what was going on,” as the news of the UFC 303 press conference being pulled hit the airwaves.
This, despite Ariel Helwani previously reporting that Chandler was informed of the cancelation on Sunday, one day before the public became aware.
Hughes also stated that Chandler’s post-news break reaction was a rather simple one: “Like it was just canceled and that was it, he was back in the gym [so] what do you do?
“I honestly don’t think anybody does [have the answer], it was the McGregor camp that canceled it – everybody knows that, but I don’t know why [it was pulled].”
‘Big News’ is set to return to action himself on June 22 at the Bellator Champions Series in Dublin, where he will take on veteran Bobby King in the co-main event.
Whilst Hughes has had the opportunity to spar and train alongside Chandler in the past, the rising Irish contender explained why ‘Iron’ hasn’t needed to include him in his camp for McGregor.
“Obviously, he’s fighting McGregor so he’s doing all southpaw work, so we haven’t been sparring or doing nothing this camp – we’ll do an odd bit of drilling and things like that, but this time he’s preparing for a southpaw so he wouldn’t really need my assistance.
“Anytime we have got to training, it’s been a privilege,” acknowledged Hughes, before sharing what makes Chandler such a special athlete to be around in the training room.
“Mike is just the best guy, such a good dude and always warm to learn and willing to share the details to the younger guys coming up so he’s a great guy and I wish him all the best.”
At the time of writing, the main event of UFC 303 is still on for June 29; although the UFC has reportedly already put out ‘feelers’ for a potential replacement, should either Chandler or McGregor pull out of the contest.