Dana White announced Thursday night that Conor McGregor's return to the octagon will not happen at UFC 303, as he is out of his fight against Michael Chandler following an injury.
A report from MMA journalist Ariel Helwani earlier Thursday said all signs pointed to McGregor being out of the main event to the point that it was just a “formality.”
“It's not a 100% discount, but at this point I would be very surprised if it was maintained and they were actively negotiating with various sides to find a replacement,” Helwani said. published in X. “Everything is still up in the air, but right now they are acting like they need a replacement.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
(LR) Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler face off during filming of The Ultimate Fighter at UFC APEX on March 3, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
McGregor hinted on his Instagram Story on Wednesday night that he might be injured.
There was also a press conference in Dublin, Ireland, on June 3 that was canceled just 12 hours before it was due to start.
It is unclear what injury McGregor is suffering from.
With McGregor and Chandler no longer headlining the competition, White announced there will be a co-main event, starting with Alex Pereira taking on Jiri Prochazka.
CONOR MCGREGOR'S RETURN TO UFC APPEARS TO BE CANCELED: 'JUST A FORMALITY AT THIS POINT'
As White said, Pereira is the only fighter in UFC history to win both the middleweight and light heavyweight belts, and he did so in 736 days over seven fights, which is also the shortest amount of time in history.
Pereira has won 10 of his last 11 fights.
Brazilian Alex Pereira arrives for a middleweight fight against Nigerian Israel Adesanya at the UFC 281 mixed martial arts event on November 13, 2022 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
As for Prochazka, he is also a former light heavyweight champion and currently owns 23 first round wins. He is 30-4-1 in his career with 25 wins by knockout and three by submission for a 97% finish rate.
Rounding out the co-main event is No. 3 featherweight Brian Ortega, who has the second-most finishes in featherweight history and also the second-most submissions in the weight class. Ortega is 16-3 with eight total submissions on his UFC stat sheet.
He will go toe-to-toe with Diego Lopes, who has seen 22 of his 24 wins come to a close. He knocked out 10 opponents and submitted another 12 with an overall record of 24-6.
Conor McGregor attends Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat on June 9, 2023 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
So while McGregor's UFC hiatus must continue, White will still put on a show in Las Vegas on June 29.
Follow Fox News Digital sports coverage in Xand subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
