Michael Chandler shared a cryptic Instagram post on Tuesday, amid fears that his fight with Conor McGregor will be cancelled.
McGregor vs Chandler is due to headline UFC 303 on 29 June, but speculation has grown this week that the bout will not go ahead, amid a series of concerning signs.
Firstly, a pre-fight press conference was cancelled on Monday, just hours before it was set to take place in Dublin. Then on Tuesday, ESPN’s pay-per-view link for UFC 303 seemed to be taken down. Furthermore, the UFC removed its recently published YouTube videos of past McGregor fights.
Later on Tuesday (4 June), Chandler wrote on Instagram: “If you’re looking for me, I’ll be out in Tennessee. No way out of the life we chose…”
Chandler, 38, has been carrying out his training camp in Florida but resides in Tennessee.
The American’s Irish teammate Paul Hughes told Severe MMA on Tuesday: “I saw him on Monday morning and was like, ‘Are you not supposed to be in Ireland?’ But he didn’t really know what was going on. Just [that the press conference] was cancelled, and that was it. He was back in the gym.
“What do you do? It looks like it was the McGregor camp... It was the McGregor camp that cancelled it – that’s obvious, everybody knows that. But I have no idea why.”
The UFC offered no explanation for the cancellation of the press conference, but McGregor tweeted: “In consultation with the UFC, today’s press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control.
“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 Irishman, 35, has not fought since July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in a second straight loss to Dustin Poirier.
Meanwhile, Chandler has not fought since November 2022, when he lost to Poirier via submission.
