The scheduled UFC 303 main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler seems to be in serious jeopardy, with the promotion reportedly continuing to look for a replacement main event.
Conor McGregor‘s UFC comeback has been highly anticipated, ever since he broke his leg in his last outing against Dustin Poirier back in 2021.
Michael Chandler has sat around waiting for the huge fight and thought he was finally getting it on June 29th, on International Fight Week.
How the story has unfolded so far
A Conor McGregor story is never simple, though. The promotion’s scheduled press conference in Dublin was canceled last week, just hours before it was set to take place. News then filtered out that the UFC was sending out feelers to fighters to potentially replace the main event.
The former two-weight world champion even posted an image to his social media, of him sitting on a doctor’s bed, cheesing from cheek to cheek.
Despite that, things began to look positive as the week went on, and the UFC even began to repost UFC 303 promotional content that they’d previously made private, including old McGregor fights.
However, MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, reported this past Wednesday that the fight is ‘in limbo’ and the status of it is once again unknown, with the UFC continuing to look for a replacement for the Irishman, as well as a replacement fight entirely.
With that news, let’s take a look at three potential fights that could end up replacing Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler as the UFC 303 main event.
Max Holloway vs Michael Chandler for the BMF title
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Admittedly, if the UFC is forced into finding a replacement fight, whatever they land on isn’t going to be received well by the fans, no matter what it is.
There is no fight out there that could surpass or even match the hype level of a McGregor fight, which makes this an unwinnable battle for the UFC.
Having said that, a BMF title fight between Max Holloway and ‘Iron’ Mike could maintain a certain level of excitement. Following his special win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, ‘Blessed’ Holloway blossomed into an even bigger star than he already was.
The biggest issue with this potential fight is that Holloway is seemingly next in line to fight Ilia Topuria for the 145lb title, which will likely happen this summer, or towards the end of the year. A fight against Chandler could throw a spanner in those works.
Despite that, one reason why this potential fight makes a lot of sense is that it could be contested at a catchweight of 165lbs, with it being for the BMF title which isn’t assigned to a specific weight category. This would make it easier for Holloway to make weight on such a short turnaround.
Chandler would also still get the relatively big fight that he’s been waiting for, instead of all of his preparation going to waste.
Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka 2 for the light heavyweight title
This option, in my opinion, is the least likely of the two. The current light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, is currently in Australia doing a media tour.
With ‘Poatan’ likely out of consistent training, it is unlikely that he will defend his title on such short notice. Despite that, Jiri Prochazka admitted this past weekend at Oktagon 58, that he has signed the contract for his next fight and is hoping that it will be announced soon.
This led to speculation from the fans that Prochazka could be eluding to the fact that he has signed to be the late replacement for the UFC 303 main event.
Alex Pereira has undoubtedly become one of the UFC’s biggest draws, and it would make sense for them to try and draft in a big name to replace what is currently a huge main event, but it just seems like too late notice for this to become a possibility.
Michael Chandler vs Alexander Volkanovski
The least exciting of the three options, but possibly one of the more likely. Former UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, has made it clear that he would step up on late notice for a ‘big fight’.
Although he wouldn’t be getting the McGregor payday, he would likely be getting a bump in pay for stepping in to once again save the day.
Volkanovski admitted that after his UFC 298 knockout loss to Ilia Topuria, he was going to take a significant amount of time off, but this could entice him back into action.
Again, this could be contested at catchweight so that ‘The Great’ didn’t have to make a two-week weight cut. The Australian will likely have to wait for the culmination of Topuria vs Holloway if he is hoping for an immediate title rematch, and so may want to take this big fight in the meantime.
Even though all three of these options are promising and exciting fights, they simply don’t compare to a Conor McGregor fight, and there will be uproar if the 35-year-old doesn’t end up competing on June 29th.