Dana White has gotten accustomed to saving UFC cards after major cancellations.
Conor McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was forced to withdraw from his highly anticipated return against Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) June 29 at T-Mobile Arena due to an undisclosed injury.
The promotion scrambled, and put together a new main event for UFC 303 – a light heavyweight title-fight rematch between champion Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka. An exciting featherweight matchup between Brian Ortega and rising star Diego Lopes was also added as the new co-main event.
For White, it’s just another day in the office.
“It’s the business, man,” White told Sports Business Journal. “This is the way it goes. And from here on, I’m not going to talk about it until when he’s healed and he’s right. Then we’ll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out.”
McGregor isn’t the only big star the UFC had to find a replacement for. Undefeated Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) was forced out of Saturday’s UFC on ABC 6 headliner vs. Robert Whittaker in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia due to illness.
Stepping in to face Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) on short notice is rising middleweight contender Ikram Aliskerov (15-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
“It’s been interesting because we had to switch the Saudi main event, which is next weekend, you know what I mean? It’s f*cking days away,” White said. “So for us to put in this guy (Aliskerov), who is 15-1, he’s Muslim and his only loss is to Khamzat Chimaev, and everyone in the division said no to fighting him except Robert Whittaker (is a good result). … I’m very happy (with the quality of the replacement fights).”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.
