Just two days after Connor McGregor and Michael Chandler’s press conference in anticipation of their UFC 303 mega-fight was postponed, the Irish superstar has sent the MMA world into a frenzy.
McGregor, who many are concerned may pull out of the bout following an 11th-hour cancellation of the presser in his native Dublin, posted an image to his Instagram account that appeared to show him in a doctor’s office.
With little to go off of besides his laid-back expression and a flexing emoji for a caption, fans have begun speculating what it could mean.
The former two-division champion has not fought since UFC 264 in July of 2021, a fight which ended prematurely after McGregor broke his leg.
Since then, he jas not stepped into an octagon or made a media appearance for the UFC but was supposed to headline Monday’s event in anticipation of his return fight on June 29.
And although the promotion apologized for postponing the event, they provided little details saying “when we have further information on a new date and time, we will share it immediately,” through a statement.
Things only got more vague when McGregor chimed in a few hours later with an equally generic statement.
“In consultation with the UFC, today’s press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control,” McGregor wrote. “I apologize to my Irish fans, and fans around the world, for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon.”
The only thing we learned from the combination of cryptic messages was that the postponement was seemingly initiated by McGregor’s team. In fact, Chandler was reportedly packed and on his way to the airport when he was notified the presser was no longer taking place.
And despite no clarity on whether or not the media event was called off in relation to an injury, and the added element that Chandler has left his training camp in response to all this, there is still reason to be optimistic.
On Wednesday afternoon combat sports reporter Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting provided a seemingly positive update on the situation Wednesday afternoon.
Helwani said “as of last night and as of today… I can tell you that there is great positivity that this fight is going forward (at UFC 303).”
That was after he had previously reported the UFC had “sent out feelers to see who might be able to fill in, either as a replacement or an entirely new fight at the top of the bill.”
Fight fans will have no choice but to wait and hope the main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas takes place as scheduled.