Former UFC two-weight champion Conor McGregor has spoken out for the first time since being forced to withdraw from the main event of UFC 303.
The postponement of McGregor's long-awaited return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler was officially announced by UFC CEO Dana White on Thursday night, after it was revealed that McGregor had suffered an undisclosed injury ahead of the bout on June 29. White then announced that a light heavyweight championship rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka would be the new main event.
McGregor released a statement on Instagram on Saturday confirming the injury but did not provide further details.
“It is extremely tough to miss my scheduled return fight,” McGregor said. “I suffered an injury prior to the press conference and have needed more time than I had time to recover. The decision to postpone the fight is not one I have taken lightly and was made in consultation with my doctors, UFC and my team. My fans and opponent will expect me to be at my best in this fight and we will get there!”
“Thank you for all your messages of support. I'm sure I'm doing well and will be back soon!”
McGregor has not fought since suffering a severely broken leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. Since knocking out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016 to become the first simultaneous two-division titleholder in UFC history, “The Notorious” has fought just five times, four of which have been inside the Octagon, including a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.
During that time, the 35-year-old managed just one win, a 40-second knockout of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020. He also lost two TKOs to Poirier, a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov and a stoppage loss to Mayweather in his professional boxing debut.
