The highly anticipated welterweight fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler at UFC 303 is “in great limbo,” according to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.
The UFC has reportedly been exploring Plan B options to potentially serve as its new UFC 303 main event.
“They are reaching out to people again,” Helwani said on “The MMA Hour.” “They are reaching out to managers, they are reaching out to fighters.”
Helwani added: “I would say this fight is very much in limbo. I would say that it’s hanging on, and I would say the UFC is working very, very hard right now to figure out a Plan B.”
The UFC is apparently looking at potential replacements in case it needs a new fight for the event, backups, someone to step in for McGregor, or just as insurance.
McGregor and Chandler had a press conference scheduled for June 3 in Dublin, but the UFC abruptly canceled the event just 12 hours before it was supposed to start. The promotion ran the video promo of the McGregor-Chandler bout as recently as Saturday at UFC Louisville.
“The positivity that I talked about exactly one week ago today is nowhere to be found,” Helwani added.
Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently said that he would “100%” be ready to step in as a replacement and fight in the UFC 303 main event.
McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Chandler’s most recent bout came in November 2022 when he suffered a submission loss against Poirier at UFC 281.
UFC 303 is scheduled for June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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