The largest star in MMA historical past will struggle in the primary occasion of UFC 303.
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited, highly-anticipated return to the octagon is official for UFC 303 towards Michael Chandler, UFC CEO Dana White formally introduced the matchup following Saturday’s UFC 300 occasion.
The matchup will happen at welterweight, not middleweight as “The Infamous” beforehand claimed, and function the headlining act of the UFC 303 card, which fits down at T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN.
Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has lengthy been focused because the return opponent for McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) after the 2 fighters coached opposing groups on “The Final Fighter” in 2023.
McGregor has not been in motion since breaking his leg in July 2021 in a trilogy bout towards Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. It is going to be almost three years since he is seen motion.
The Irishman just lately expressed frustration on the UFC about his return, stating his “persistence is carrying skinny” after he re-entered the drug testing pool.
McGregor, 35, subsequently introduced he can be returning to struggle Chandler throughout Worldwide Battle Week on June 29, and that it will be contested within the middleweight division. That finally proved false, however now McGregor will get to return to the octagon a number of months before anticipated.
Trying to derail what McGregor’s workforce has dubbed because the “biggest return in sports activities historical past” will likely be former three-time Bellator champion Chandler, who sees his lengthy watch for this matchup lastly repay. Chandler, 37, hasn’t competed since November 2022, the place he suffered a Battle of the Yr contender loss to Poirier at UFC 281.
The most recent UFC 303 lineup now contains:
- Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor
- Andre Fili vs. Cub Swanson
- Carlos Hernandez vs. Rei Tsuruya