Conor McGregor Is Out And UFC 303 Main Card Gets A Massive Overhaul

In essentially the most anti-climactic information of the yr in blended martial arts, Conor McGregor has been formally dominated out of UFC 303 with an harm, and his struggle with Michael Chandler is off.

Chandler is now utterly off the cardboard as properly. The waited till it had all of its geese in a row earlier than formally transferring off the McGregor-Chandler struggle regardless of tons of hypothesis the struggle was in hassle all week.

The brand new most important occasion for UFC 303 will see Alex Pereira defend his UFC gentle heavyweight title in opposition to former champion Jiri Prochazka in a rematch of their 2023 scrap at UFC 295.

Pereira gained their first struggle by way of second-round TKO and captured the vacant gentle heavyweight title with the win.

Pereira is coming off a profitable title protection over Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. The champion scored a first-round KO win. Regardless of making fast work of Hill, Pereira suffered a damaged toe within the struggle.

It seems he’s wholesome and able to hop again into the Octagon for what figures to be a considerable payday as he involves the rescue for one of many promotion’s most important occasions of the yr on Worldwide Battle Week.

Prochazka scored a second-round TKO win over Aleksandr Rakic at UFC 300 to place himself for a second likelihood at Pereira.

UFC 303 Has a New Co-Major Occasion Too

Along with the cancellation of McGregor-Chandler, which was scheduled to be the principle occasion, former UFC gentle heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill is now out of his co-main occasion scrap with Carlos Ulberg resulting from a knee harm.

Ulberg changed Khalil Rountree, who was dominated out after failing a drug take a look at for a banned substance.

Ulberg will now face UFC veteran and former title challenger Anthony Smith, however the struggle has been moved out of the co-main occasion spot.

Within the new co-main occasion, the fast-rising Diego Lopes, additionally a winner over Sadiq Yusuf on the UFC 300 card, will tackle perennial contender Brian Ortega.

Lopes is ranked No. 14 however appears to be like like a authentic title contender. Ortega has already competed for the 145-pound title twice. He misplaced to Max Holloway by way of fourth-round TKO at UFC 231 in 2018.

Ortega fell to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266 in 2021 by way of unanimous determination. Ortega is taking a serious threat on this struggle.

He is presently ranked No. 3. If he loses, it can harm his probabilities of getting a title shot quickly. A win helps Ortega, although it will not elevate him within the rankings as he sits behind Volkanovski, Holloway, and the present champion, Ilia Topuria.

Smith faces Ulberg after scoring a first-round submission victory over Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 final month. Smith took just about no injury en path to stopping the Brazilian, which put him in place to exchange Hill.

In any case, the highest three fights on the UFC 303 most important card look stable. No fighter within the sport has the sway that McGregor possesses. So, there was no strategy to discover equal worth within the seek for a alternative.

The promotion did a very good job of setting up a stable card beneath some robust circumstances.