UFC 303: McGregor vs Chandler OFF (injury). Pereira vs Procházka to REPLACE

UFC 303 was supposed to host the return of one of the biggest combat sports superstars the world has ever seen, someone who has changed mixed martial arts, and helped to elevate MMA to mainstream news/sports coverage: Conor McGregor.

“The Notorious” Conor McGregor vs “Iron” Michael Chandler is officially off.

The Irish mixed martial artist has withdrawn from the fight, due to a currently undisclosed injury. We will keep this article updated, as more information comes out.

However, UFC 303 has a new main event. Announced by Dana White via instagram video, the new main event for UFC 303 is…

Alex “Poatan” Pereira vs Jiří Procházka, for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at 205lbs. UFC 303 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Just as he did with UFC 300, Alex Pereira will be main eventing the UFC 303 event. Filling in again on relatively short notice, the Brazilian mixed martial artist has been credited by many on social media with saving another UFC PPV card. Fans have also praised Jiri for being a willing dance partner

On two weeks' notice, both Alex Pereira and Jiří Procházka have agreed to fight one another, in a rematch for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. 

We have so much respect for these warriors agreeing to fight one another on short notice, as they embody the motto of our  Sanabul brand: “Fight For It.”

This is exactly what they are doing. They are seizing the opportunity, no matter how scary the man they will be facing may be, because dreams only work if you do. They are quite literally fighting for their goals.

Some background information on the UFC 303 main event and Light Heavyweight Championship rematch: 

Alex Pereira is the only fighter in UFC history to have won both the UFC MIddleweight Championship (185lbs) and the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (205lbs). He also holds the record of shortest amount of time that a fighter has taken to win a UFC title (7 fights, 736 days) since their arrival to the organization, finishing 7 of his 9 total UFC fights by knockout (KO).

Poatan was also a former two-division Glory Kickboxing World Champion. Before he went to the UFC, he was the first kickboxer to simultaneously hold Glory titles in two weight classes. He was Glory Kickboxing Middleweight Champion and Glory Kickboxing Light Heavyweight Champion at the same time. Years later, he repeated the same feat in one of the world’s best mma organizations, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Procházka, the Czech mixed martial artist, looks to add to his finishing list of 23 wins via knockout (KO) and 3 via submission.

More announcements were made by Dana White following the news of McGregor’s withdrawal against Chandler, from UFC 303:

The co-main event of UFC 303 will be Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes, at featherweight (145lbs). The seasoned veteran "T-City" will take on the fast-rising prospect in Lopes, who has quickly become a fan favorite due to his fast pace, constant action fight style. Ortega has had memorable title performances for the UFC Featherweight Championship against Sanabul athlete Max "Blessed" Holloway and Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski, but came away with losses in both bouts. He's looking for another title shot, but has no easy task in front of him.

Diego Lopes made his UFC debut on short notice against Russian standout fighter Movsar Evloev in an exciting fight that many fans believed Lopes stood small chance in. He held his own against the extremely skilled Evloev, but ultimately lost the fight via unanimous decision from the judges. Since then, he has won his last 3 fights, finishing all of these three opponents (submission, KO, TKO - respectively).

In addition...

Robert ”The Reaper” Whittaker will now be fighting Ikram Aliskerov, at 185lbs, in the June 22nd Fight Night event before UFC 303. Aliskerov has previously made a callout for rising UFC Middleweight contender and former NCAA D1 Wrestling Champion (representing the Penn State Nittany Lions), Bo Nickal.

First announced by Dana White via instagram video, “Bobby Knuckles” now has a new opponent and new challenge, since his original opponent -- Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev -- has withdrawn from the bout due to illness.

Thank you for reading - we hope this article provided you with useful information about these very recent events!