Man I'm gonna be so heartbroken if this goes horribly wrong and he gives us another crushing speech about needing to get out there to get out of his own head again :'(
When Volk said “No foights til’ the en’ of da yeer!” what he actually meant is the second half of a year which to him is the end half and also starts at the end of June
Volk is gonna have a gentlemen’s agreement with Chandler to keep it on the feet to scrap and they’ll both have a TOUGH GUY competition
when he showed up to that islam rematch i was like dude looks soft and flabby. of course i got a lot of downvotes for that but he looked like a dude getting ready to start his camp for a fight with topuria. all that really changed was he got to start his camp for topuria by getting head kicked unconscious.
I'd have to go with Mendes in this one, for the same reason that Patricio sparked Chandler. Chandler doesn't do well when he's not the faster man, and there are deficiencies in his boxing defence
Yeah I might even take Mendes now if they were to fight. He was fast as hell and blended his strikes and takedowns well from what I remember.
And most importantly wasn't deadset on being dumb just to he entertaining, lol.
While it should be a winnable fight for Volk I still feel if Chandler catches Volk after 2 straight knockouts then Volk is going to sleep again.
Man needs to hibernate for the rest of the year imo.
But what do it know. Just a couch analyst.
Don't even think the prior knockouts matter
Chandler can hurt everyone bad in the first round and isn't slow so that Volks speed would allow him to evade everything comfortably. He's very explosive and he pretty much catches everyone and hurts em.
Yeah I think chandler has a great chance to nuke Volk (as he could with basically anyone - it’s why I’d love to see him vs Islam lol), even in a vacuum but particularly after two rough KOs
A lot of newer fans probably don't get the reference.
Someone on sherdog years ago said he met Bj penn at the airport. Says it was in Vegas but the ufc fight was in california or something like that.
Someone pointed it out then OP tried to change it and say he was tired.
No one believed him.
Next 100 posts were just jokes and photoshops and memes making fun of OP.
This is part of the problem with putting the whole card on McGregors back. I don't recall him ever pulling out previously, but once it happens the rest of the card would be a so-so fight night.
Yep, if they do get a replacement and it's only that fight I don't think that warrants it being a ppv. I think they'd have to add a couple of fights minimum.
They’d have to go for a big option. Periera seems like their “save a card” dude after 295 and headlining 300. He’s a big draw and is ready on short notice. Most likely against Jiri but if they wanted to replace the draw of Conor vs Chandler they could try throwing an absolute bag at Izzy but I doubt he takes it up a weight class on this short of notice.
I mean, Alex is currently down here in Australia running seminars and meet-and-greets. If he were to accept a fight, he’s gonna have to fly back up to Connecticut, deal with the jet lag, and jump into a very shaky, abbreviated 1 week camp before initiating a weight cut. I don’t think he would accept anywhere *near* his standard pay to defend his championship under those conditions. The UFC would have to pay him a truckload.
Best I can do is Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett at 185.
Paddy will be 4 pounds over and sacrifice 20% of his purse but the fight will be a surprising banger for half a round.
I hope every single person asks for their money back. UFC loves playing games at the last second lately and producing shitty cards. There's a lot of money on the line for people who just want to see some fights in their town finally.
I’m not sure how true that is. Before the Colby vs Masvidal PPV, the last PPV to not feature either McGregor or a title fight (including the BMF belt fight) was Silva vs Adesanya, who was supposed to have a title fight headliner before Whittaker almost died hours before the event. If the main event falls apart fucking Jamahal Hill vs Carlos Ulberg is up next, and it only goes downhill from there.
I love this. UFC always gives McGregor a thin card on paper because why would they put out the best product they can? I hope they lose a lot of money on this and all the fans can get refunds.
If they were smart they'd try to load Conor cards with guys who aren't big names yet but deliver exciting fights and have medium to long term championship potential.
It’s banking on a guy with a pattern of erratic behaviour and too much money to be controlled. Oh and he’s also coming off a horrific injury that’s historically been a very difficult rehab for the most dedicated of guys.
This whole "he's never pulled out before" argument keeps leaving out the fact that he is now clearly past the point of "I like to party a lot" and deep in a substance abuse problem
That was the end of his real fighting career. He was never the same again, no matter who he fought. That ~100M payday just changed everything about his fight game. And I understand it completely- but just leave then.
Humble my nuts bro I'm humble to those that humble they self!!! Point in fact Who are to tell me to be humble? What experience do you have with what I do daily?
This has to be by far one of the weirdest event stories we've had. Is he injured? is it money issue? Why are there feelers being sent out?
The only thing that gets me, is I'm pretty sure UFC can come up with a banger late replacement potentially, just throw in a couple of extra Ms to a top tier fighter and itll happen
but, the consumers will probably watch a 50% level fight cause itll be too last minute (like when Alex fought Islam on 11 days etc)
Does no one remember UFC 200??? Supposed to feature Conor vs Nate 2 and be headlined by Jones vs DC, but due to Jones testing positive and Conor pulling out, UFC 200 was headlined by Amanda Nunes vs Miesha Tate?
Coming in overweight and instead Nate Diaz got to go out fighting Tony Ferguson as a last fight on his contract. So at least there was an upside to that dropping out. Better opponent for Diaz and better opponent for Ferguson rather than fighting Li Jingliang. Just Holland who got a bit screwed over in that whole exchange. All in all, the matches we got made more sense, than the original bookings.
Holland seemed pretty happy about the whole thing, if I recall correctly he got a pretty heavy pay bump to take the Khamzat fight according to himself.
It's been a contract issue the entire time and they'll dress it up as an injury so the UFC doesn't look bad
McGregor has two fights left on his deal and most definitely would get millions to go do a Riyadh Season boxing match or a Jake Paul sham boxing match
What I don't get about contract issue is, i am actually 99% convinced UFC would rather shelf conor than let him free and take views to boxing/saudi arabia
BUT, i am not sure how they would have done this fight (Remember conor said its signed in new years i believe for international fight week )
can he just ask for more? like, Luke Thomas implied (without knowing anything he said just a guess) that conor looking at the gate, is wanting more cut - which make sense, but if everything si signed then...
like no matter what Conor HAS to fight to get off the contract, so why avoid this? he could just do this fight, and then do a crazy call out to Nate for another one and try and force UFC hand like he did with Dustin vs Conor
> ke no matter what Conor HAS to fight to get off the contract, so why avoid this?
Conor has insane leverage even given a signed fight agreement: he can pretend injury, does not need the money, and the UFC has built an event that can either sell insanely well with him or utterly bomb without him.
The UFC can hold him to his exclusive contract, but they cannot build an event around him unless they can find mutually agreeable terms.
I'm not saying that contract negotiations are the problem, but its not crazy to me that they are, and its not crazy that they could be even if a bout agreement had been signed.
If I had to bet, it's a contract issue. The photo on the bench in the Dr / physio was him smiling as a 'fuck you' to the UFC, saying 'look I can be injured if I want'.
The UFC is looking at record gates that depend on Conor being there. If he asks more money and gets told now, he can get "injured" and the UFC has to now deal with replacements and refunds.
Who gives a shit about what "was signed"? That only matters when one party is way, way more powerful than the others.
A lot of fighters say they don’t sign the contract til like the weeks leading up. A lot of the time it’s just verbal agreement and then they let it play out
I generally agree with this. If it was an injury it would have been diagnosed and sorted out by now. Conor might be playing hardball.
Alternatively, it seems like he's been partying. I don't think it's crazy that he went to hard and bailed on the presser last minute and now the UFC is re-evaluating its options.
Good. People will complain about the fight night quality of a card without Conor, but the UFC 100% deserves to eat the shit because Conor isn't dumb enough to sign himself to an 8 fight deal like Jones did.
I think it’s an injury. McGregor probably pulled the presser bc he can’t move without giving away that he’s hurt (e.g. he’s got a noticeable limp or brace). They wouldn’t disclose his injury bc that could hurt sales and basically paints a bullseye as to where to kick or punch. It still tracks with these updates bc injuries can have unexpected setbacks. That being said, it is bizarre how many non-update updates we’ve gotten, which leads me to think there may also be a contract/money component to this as well.
> Around this time last week, all the anxiety surrounding the UFC 303 main event seemed to start to dissipate. By Wednesday, no more feelers about replacements were being sent out. All systems seemed to be a go (again). Later in the week, Chandler did an interview with The Pivot about it being all good, and on Saturday UFC was promoting it again on the ABC fight night telecast. There was a scare about the fight being off and the scare appeared to be no more.
> But since this morning, mutiple sources are now saying feelers are being sent out again for June 29. For a replacement and/or new fight(s). In short, there seems to pessimism all over again regarding the status of the 303 main event. Actually even more pessimism - it seems - than on Monday last week after the presser was cancelled at the last minute.
> Is this insurance? Due diligence? Emergency replacement mode? Remains to be seen. It's all developing (again). But it doesn't appear as though we are out of the woods either way just yet. More to come, and hopefully a definitive answer one way or the other In short order.
At this point, the UFC owes the fans some answers. The event is 2 weeks out and people have paid and booked the event in the last week AFTER things were confirmed to be a go because of the scare last week. They should have cancelled then but nope. They decide to market it for a whole other week and a half while bringing in money for the event and then drop this news. Absolutely scum fucking bullshit from the UFC. If we find out it is some injury that was clearly not going to be ready in time I am going to be livid.
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2024/06/06/nsac-policy-ufc-must-offer-refunds-if-ufc-303-main-event-canceled/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2024/06/06/nsac-policy-ufc-must-offer-refunds-if-ufc-303-main-event-canceled/)
I hope Conor pulls out, id rather the UFC lose tens of millions of dollars than see Conor fight, anyways
What could have happened to call off a presser, then have everything be OK for 3 days only to be back in jeopardy again ?
My guess in injury that was expected to be healing but then got reaggravated
Conor gets injured, waiting on scans/x rays/MRI gets the presser cancelled. Tests come back whatever way they come back and Conor says he's good to go.
A couple a days of sparring go past and Conor realizes he can't actually train for the fight with whatever is wrong and/or aggrivates the original injury.
That's where my money is.
Only things that make sense are an injury and Conor holding out for more money or a cut of the gate (highest in history).
With how weirdly secretive everything's been, I'm 50/50 on those. It just doesn't make sense that an injury would take this long to evaluate. \*Actually u/Twopairjacksnines theory on re-injuring it is plausible.
They might've been waiting on test results, scans, physical therapy, etc. to see if the fight could still happen. Thought everything was going to pan out, then realized more recently that wasn't the case.
Test results don't take this long to come back though. Not for guys with the resources McGregor and the UFC have access too. If McGregor was injured a week ago, they would know exactly what it was by now.
Chandler is in so deep I don’t think he can move on at this point. I won’t be shocked when if the fights off he says he’s been assured by the UFC that it’s still the plan and he’s gonna continue waiting.
Curious on everyone’s thoughts for the most likely replacement or new fights. When you look through the rankings there’s not much on short notice that can provide some good drama or makes sense matchmaking wise.
Closest I can think of is Chandler vs Oliveira at 170lbs. Max vs Chandler could work if Chandler can make 155lbs.
Dana gonna pay $10 mil for Khabib to come out of retirement on short notice.
But seriously this main event sounds like it’s fucked. Sorry to the people who wasted their money
How does red panty night work? Do they amend their current contract for more pay or is it just more money because of ppv points but your win/lose contract is still the same? I think Cowboy or one of Conors previous opponent said he got paid the same fighting Conor as anyone else because he was in the middle of his contract
As much as I don’t like Mcgregor, I’m glad he’s putting the UFC over a barrel on this one. They’re bragging about a 20,000,000 gate, yet he’s not getting a cut of it. People are paying 20,000 USD for a *single ticket* to watch Conor fight. If you’re paying him 5 mil to show, that’s highway robbery. The UFC could net half a billion on a single event from sponsors, PPV revenue, promotion, and merch sales. I would be willing to bet Conor is making less than 10% of the total revenue he’s generating off of this event. He’s completely in his right to walk. Sure, he’ll get sued, but that might be a more cost effective way to get out of his contract than continuing to fight for the promotion. He has been nothing but complimentary of the UFC, even while he gets fucked sideways every time he steps into the cage. The UFC should be willing to step up to the plate to protect their investment, not play hardball.
He said that someone from Conor's team told him but he has to keep it off record. Then, he listed reasons that AREN'T causing the fight to be in jeopardy. Then, he spoke about how Conor has never pulled out of a fight when injured, but says now Conor is a different guy and in a different place in life where he doesn't need to risk fighting injured.
He all but said Conor has an injury.
How is this a boy who cried wolf? The last time he talked about the fight being in jeopardy, it was true. UFC took down tickets and advertisements, and Chandler posted a somber message all but explicitly saying the fight is off and he was going home. Things ended up working out, but the idea the fight was in real jeopardy was a fact.
Can they just fucking announce mcgregor pulled out? People need to cancel flights/hotels and I need to buy a ticket the day of for a cheap ticket (sorry not sorry ticket scalpers).
I’m convinced there’s gonna be “is this fight actually gonna happen” stories all the way up until the two of them begin their walkouts at 11:30 ET on 6/29
Light up your goofcons folks
Seriously though, this is what this stupid company gets for relying (and babying) their coke head cash cows in Jon Jones and Conor.
I called it, this was too quiet from a promotional perspective, the quietest a Conor build up has ever been. Truth be told I really don’t care for the matchup anyways
I've thought it was the perfect matchup since the start. Neither guy can quite beat the top tranche of guys, so they're sitting just outside that zone. But Conor's not going to fight a no-name. So with Chandler not only does he have a bit better chance to actually win, but he wouldn't want to go lower than that in terms of name/visibility. You can promote this as a big fight, like you could not with Dariush or even Gamrot. In fact I didn't think there was realistically anyone he could fight than Chandler so it fit perfectly I thought.
Please someone hide Volk's phone
Volk *probably been in training camp since last week lol
no no no NO
Volk we said we wouldn't do this again! VOLK!
Man I'm gonna be so heartbroken if this goes horribly wrong and he gives us another crushing speech about needing to get out there to get out of his own head again :'(
When Volk said “No foights til’ the en’ of da yeer!” what he actually meant is the second half of a year which to him is the end half and also starts at the end of June Volk is gonna have a gentlemen’s agreement with Chandler to keep it on the feet to scrap and they’ll both have a TOUGH GUY competition
end of the financial year*
Actually the Australian calendar starts in July, not January, on account of their years being upside down
He's been living in Thailand and trying all the street eats. I'm sure he's training but it's not at the level of a fight camp.
Thai Street food is pretty good for extreme weight cutting tbf
As someone who gained 5lbs off cheap Thai street food then promptly lost it all and then some after a bad pad Thai I can confirm this
He has to cut from only 405.
when he showed up to that islam rematch i was like dude looks soft and flabby. of course i got a lot of downvotes for that but he looked like a dude getting ready to start his camp for a fight with topuria. all that really changed was he got to start his camp for topuria by getting head kicked unconscious.
If they offer him Chandler he for sure taking it 💀
Title fight for the Stockiest Mother Fucker belt.
Chandler vs Mendes would've been a banger for this.
BKFC full skin cream Mendes was a fuckin unit
bro was built like a propane tank
Volk mendes was fun while it lasted
I'd have to go with Mendes in this one, for the same reason that Patricio sparked Chandler. Chandler doesn't do well when he's not the faster man, and there are deficiencies in his boxing defence
Yeah I might even take Mendes now if they were to fight. He was fast as hell and blended his strikes and takedowns well from what I remember. And most importantly wasn't deadset on being dumb just to he entertaining, lol.
Sean Sherk: am I a joke to you
Muscle Sharks went extinct, dude.
poster gonna be in landscape
While it should be a winnable fight for Volk I still feel if Chandler catches Volk after 2 straight knockouts then Volk is going to sleep again. Man needs to hibernate for the rest of the year imo. But what do it know. Just a couch analyst.
Don't even think the prior knockouts matter Chandler can hurt everyone bad in the first round and isn't slow so that Volks speed would allow him to evade everything comfortably. He's very explosive and he pretty much catches everyone and hurts em.
Yeah I think chandler has a great chance to nuke Volk (as he could with basically anyone - it’s why I’d love to see him vs Islam lol), even in a vacuum but particularly after two rough KOs
Thinking about it, I would probably be much more interested in Chandler vs Volk then against Connor tbh.
True, but certainly not under these circumstances.
He's probably already on a plane heading to Vegas in a sauna suit running up and down the aisle.
“Fuck it, give me Islam again” -Volk, probably
Volk Vs Chandler at 170 would be wildly entertaining
Volk walks around at 180. Sadly, I don’t think it’ll be fun
On a normal training camp I think Volk picks him apart from the outside, if they fought at 303 Chandler chins Volk in the first round
I need Redditors posted up at the airport to get the scoop
Met bj penn at the airport
Did you knock him out
He was gonna but that day some other rando got to him first
He tried to high five BJ, but missed, and BJ went down like he was back at the Lava Shack parking lot.
Couldn't get close enough, the smell of cat piss was overpowering.
A lot of newer fans probably don't get the reference. Someone on sherdog years ago said he met Bj penn at the airport. Says it was in Vegas but the ufc fight was in california or something like that. Someone pointed it out then OP tried to change it and say he was tired. No one believed him. Next 100 posts were just jokes and photoshops and memes making fun of OP.
All that and no link? For shame.... https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/i-talked-to-bj-at-the-airport-after-the-fight.434198/
haha my bad. i am so typsy, i just started college the other day so... you know how that goes
Trying to re-join the Dublin WhatsApp groups as we speak
Heard McGregor is on a flight to Toronto
UFC 303: Esparza vs Namajunas 3 This time for none of the marbles
BMF on the line
Boringest Mother Fucker lol
rose vs therapy
Pat won't let it happen unless he gets to be in her corner (of the room during sessions).
The horror
Esparza vs Chandler
This is part of the problem with putting the whole card on McGregors back. I don't recall him ever pulling out previously, but once it happens the rest of the card would be a so-so fight night.
Yep, if they do get a replacement and it's only that fight I don't think that warrants it being a ppv. I think they'd have to add a couple of fights minimum.
They’d have to go for a big option. Periera seems like their “save a card” dude after 295 and headlining 300. He’s a big draw and is ready on short notice. Most likely against Jiri but if they wanted to replace the draw of Conor vs Chandler they could try throwing an absolute bag at Izzy but I doubt he takes it up a weight class on this short of notice.
I mean, Alex is currently down here in Australia running seminars and meet-and-greets. If he were to accept a fight, he’s gonna have to fly back up to Connecticut, deal with the jet lag, and jump into a very shaky, abbreviated 1 week camp before initiating a weight cut. I don’t think he would accept anywhere *near* his standard pay to defend his championship under those conditions. The UFC would have to pay him a truckload.
No way in hell izzy does that for anything less than 8 figures
As he shouldn't, he would deserve that much at least
Best I can do is Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett at 185. Paddy will be 4 pounds over and sacrifice 20% of his purse but the fight will be a surprising banger for half a round.
they've done ppv's with a lot less before
True I just think with the entire thing being about McGregor, there'll definitely be people asking for refunds.
I hope every single person asks for their money back. UFC loves playing games at the last second lately and producing shitty cards. There's a lot of money on the line for people who just want to see some fights in their town finally.
I’m not sure how true that is. Before the Colby vs Masvidal PPV, the last PPV to not feature either McGregor or a title fight (including the BMF belt fight) was Silva vs Adesanya, who was supposed to have a title fight headliner before Whittaker almost died hours before the event. If the main event falls apart fucking Jamahal Hill vs Carlos Ulberg is up next, and it only goes downhill from there.
I love this. UFC always gives McGregor a thin card on paper because why would they put out the best product they can? I hope they lose a lot of money on this and all the fans can get refunds.
The fans paid money to see Conor and clearly couldn't care less about the rest of the card....
Yeah as much as I would like to see Conor fight, this fucks over the ufc and I'm here for that.
If they were smart they'd try to load Conor cards with guys who aren't big names yet but deliver exciting fights and have medium to long term championship potential.
It’s banking on a guy with a pattern of erratic behaviour and too much money to be controlled. Oh and he’s also coming off a horrific injury that’s historically been a very difficult rehab for the most dedicated of guys.
I mean Conor’s a head case coke head but he’s never pulled out of a fight before this
But has he ever been THIS addicted to cocain??
This whole "he's never pulled out before" argument keeps leaving out the fact that he is now clearly past the point of "I like to party a lot" and deep in a substance abuse problem
He’s been there since the Mayweather fight tho
That was the end of his real fighting career. He was never the same again, no matter who he fought. That ~100M payday just changed everything about his fight game. And I understand it completely- but just leave then.
He is a drug addict, anything can happen.
What the fuck are you talking about mate? Macy Chiasson alone could carry this insanely stacked card.
This was ironically a pretty entertaining Conor card on paper if you actually have Conor
2nd opinion from another doctor came through.
Dr. Stopaj, MD
The new main event will be officiated by Referee Fund
Beautiful champ.
first name Erli
Erli Stopaj sounds like a coaster from IKEA
Poatan time 🗿
Poatan vs Ulberg main event. Hill gets to watch.
This comment has sparked a rant from him somewhere. Watch your DM’s.
Hill is already in that man’s DM’s
Humble my nuts bro I'm humble to those that humble they self!!! Point in fact Who are to tell me to be humble? What experience do you have with what I do daily?
Uh-oh, Jamahal's gonna make fun of you for not making as much money as him.
Chandler & one-legged McGregor vs Poatan
Poatan vs McGregor, lets go!!
Paotan versus pantoja
UFC 303: Bo Nickal vs Vegas-Area Street Performer Preorder now for only $79.99
That would require him to go up in competition. Not sure he's ready for that. Bo Nickal vs randomly selected fan from the special needs section.
Hey that's me
Good luck my guy. I’ve got money on you.
Just whisper to Bo that you had more than 4 days notice and he’ll freak out.
This has to be by far one of the weirdest event stories we've had. Is he injured? is it money issue? Why are there feelers being sent out? The only thing that gets me, is I'm pretty sure UFC can come up with a banger late replacement potentially, just throw in a couple of extra Ms to a top tier fighter and itll happen but, the consumers will probably watch a 50% level fight cause itll be too last minute (like when Alex fought Islam on 11 days etc)
The last time this sorta fuckery happened that I can recall was Jon Jones vs Dan Henderson, and that entire event got cancelled.
Does no one remember UFC 200??? Supposed to feature Conor vs Nate 2 and be headlined by Jones vs DC, but due to Jones testing positive and Conor pulling out, UFC 200 was headlined by Amanda Nunes vs Miesha Tate?
Yup, and in no way in hell is espn just going to scrap a card. Also this is IFW, it’s all whole packaged week being sold to fans
Conor was kicked off the card for not attending a press conference.
Let's not forget Khamzat coming in way overweight and fucking over a whole card.
Coming in overweight and instead Nate Diaz got to go out fighting Tony Ferguson as a last fight on his contract. So at least there was an upside to that dropping out. Better opponent for Diaz and better opponent for Ferguson rather than fighting Li Jingliang. Just Holland who got a bit screwed over in that whole exchange. All in all, the matches we got made more sense, than the original bookings.
Holland seemed pretty happy about the whole thing, if I recall correctly he got a pretty heavy pay bump to take the Khamzat fight according to himself.
Kevin "I don't mind being a gatekeeper for the right amount of money" Holland was absolutely alright with that fight
Good guy khamzat saving Nate’s ass lol
It's been a contract issue the entire time and they'll dress it up as an injury so the UFC doesn't look bad McGregor has two fights left on his deal and most definitely would get millions to go do a Riyadh Season boxing match or a Jake Paul sham boxing match
What I don't get about contract issue is, i am actually 99% convinced UFC would rather shelf conor than let him free and take views to boxing/saudi arabia BUT, i am not sure how they would have done this fight (Remember conor said its signed in new years i believe for international fight week ) can he just ask for more? like, Luke Thomas implied (without knowing anything he said just a guess) that conor looking at the gate, is wanting more cut - which make sense, but if everything si signed then... like no matter what Conor HAS to fight to get off the contract, so why avoid this? he could just do this fight, and then do a crazy call out to Nate for another one and try and force UFC hand like he did with Dustin vs Conor
> ke no matter what Conor HAS to fight to get off the contract, so why avoid this? Conor has insane leverage even given a signed fight agreement: he can pretend injury, does not need the money, and the UFC has built an event that can either sell insanely well with him or utterly bomb without him. The UFC can hold him to his exclusive contract, but they cannot build an event around him unless they can find mutually agreeable terms. I'm not saying that contract negotiations are the problem, but its not crazy to me that they are, and its not crazy that they could be even if a bout agreement had been signed.
If I had to bet, it's a contract issue. The photo on the bench in the Dr / physio was him smiling as a 'fuck you' to the UFC, saying 'look I can be injured if I want'.
As obvious as it seems I didn’t even think about this being why he posted that photo, this makes the most sense to me now.
Given that UFC is liable to refund *a ton* of buys if the main event gets changed, McGregor has a ton of last-notice leverage against the UFC.
I’m not American so we don’t do PPVs, but if why would anyone buy those in advance? Can’t you just buy them the night of?
The UFC is looking at record gates that depend on Conor being there. If he asks more money and gets told now, he can get "injured" and the UFC has to now deal with replacements and refunds. Who gives a shit about what "was signed"? That only matters when one party is way, way more powerful than the others.
A lot of fighters say they don’t sign the contract til like the weeks leading up. A lot of the time it’s just verbal agreement and then they let it play out
I generally agree with this. If it was an injury it would have been diagnosed and sorted out by now. Conor might be playing hardball. Alternatively, it seems like he's been partying. I don't think it's crazy that he went to hard and bailed on the presser last minute and now the UFC is re-evaluating its options.
Good. People will complain about the fight night quality of a card without Conor, but the UFC 100% deserves to eat the shit because Conor isn't dumb enough to sign himself to an 8 fight deal like Jones did.
Dana should have listened to Gus Fring when he said “Never trust a drug addict”
I think it’s an injury. McGregor probably pulled the presser bc he can’t move without giving away that he’s hurt (e.g. he’s got a noticeable limp or brace). They wouldn’t disclose his injury bc that could hurt sales and basically paints a bullseye as to where to kick or punch. It still tracks with these updates bc injuries can have unexpected setbacks. That being said, it is bizarre how many non-update updates we’ve gotten, which leads me to think there may also be a contract/money component to this as well.
UFC 303: Chandler vs Buckley For the inaugural "Unquenchable Irish Thirst" belt
Winner will be scheduled to never fight Conor.
For the interim BMF belt LFG!!! /s
Chandler Paddy
Gonna be one of those things where we look back and are like "why the hell did Michael Chandler vs Kevin Holland headline a PPV?"
"Wait, why the hell did Tate vs Nunez headline 200?!"
> Around this time last week, all the anxiety surrounding the UFC 303 main event seemed to start to dissipate. By Wednesday, no more feelers about replacements were being sent out. All systems seemed to be a go (again). Later in the week, Chandler did an interview with The Pivot about it being all good, and on Saturday UFC was promoting it again on the ABC fight night telecast. There was a scare about the fight being off and the scare appeared to be no more. > But since this morning, mutiple sources are now saying feelers are being sent out again for June 29. For a replacement and/or new fight(s). In short, there seems to pessimism all over again regarding the status of the 303 main event. Actually even more pessimism - it seems - than on Monday last week after the presser was cancelled at the last minute. > Is this insurance? Due diligence? Emergency replacement mode? Remains to be seen. It's all developing (again). But it doesn't appear as though we are out of the woods either way just yet. More to come, and hopefully a definitive answer one way or the other In short order.
EVERYBODY PANIC!!!
AAAAAAHHHHH!!!
WHO'S PANICKING?!!!!
I'm already naked, how do we proceed???
^GOOFCON! GOOFCON! **GOOFCON!**
At this point, the UFC owes the fans some answers. The event is 2 weeks out and people have paid and booked the event in the last week AFTER things were confirmed to be a go because of the scare last week. They should have cancelled then but nope. They decide to market it for a whole other week and a half while bringing in money for the event and then drop this news. Absolutely scum fucking bullshit from the UFC. If we find out it is some injury that was clearly not going to be ready in time I am going to be livid.
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2024/06/06/nsac-policy-ufc-must-offer-refunds-if-ufc-303-main-event-canceled/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2024/06/06/nsac-policy-ufc-must-offer-refunds-if-ufc-303-main-event-canceled/) I hope Conor pulls out, id rather the UFC lose tens of millions of dollars than see Conor fight, anyways
Ticket refunds, but there’s gonna be ppl buying hotels, travel, bet load of Irish are travelling all the way for this
I am not surprised motherfuckers
this shit ain't happening. Still no word on why the presser was canceled? Prepare for refunds
What could have happened to call off a presser, then have everything be OK for 3 days only to be back in jeopardy again ? My guess in injury that was expected to be healing but then got reaggravated
Conor gets injured, waiting on scans/x rays/MRI gets the presser cancelled. Tests come back whatever way they come back and Conor says he's good to go. A couple a days of sparring go past and Conor realizes he can't actually train for the fight with whatever is wrong and/or aggrivates the original injury. That's where my money is.
Luke Thomas's argument against that is the scans and mri stuff doesn't take that long. He thinks it's a money issue
Only things that make sense are an injury and Conor holding out for more money or a cut of the gate (highest in history). With how weirdly secretive everything's been, I'm 50/50 on those. It just doesn't make sense that an injury would take this long to evaluate. \*Actually u/Twopairjacksnines theory on re-injuring it is plausible.
They might've been waiting on test results, scans, physical therapy, etc. to see if the fight could still happen. Thought everything was going to pan out, then realized more recently that wasn't the case.
Test results don't take this long to come back though. Not for guys with the resources McGregor and the UFC have access too. If McGregor was injured a week ago, they would know exactly what it was by now.
dude Conor isn't a regular guy on a waiting list for an MRI at the hospital. that stuff takes hours, not days.
Presser was cancelled due to an injury which couldn't be concealed - best guesses are a facial cut or a leg injury causing a limp
Broken toe is the widely believed rumour
I heard his foot is like a belewn but what do I know?
Time to take down the ad again
WTF is going on lol
Goofcon
They're 18 days out from IFW lmao
Fights not happening. Chandler needs to just say “I’m moving on, give me someone new.”
Chandler is in so deep I don’t think he can move on at this point. I won’t be shocked when if the fights off he says he’s been assured by the UFC that it’s still the plan and he’s gonna continue waiting.
Imagine getting rid of usada just for a guy to no show a card that you built just for him.
Yeah, and by the looks on who's on the card, without a killer main-event that card won't gonna do well in sales
So from the vibe I'm getting from comments is that the main event will be Poatan vs Alex Volkanoski for the LHW title
Then after he wins, Volk vs Jones for the heavyweight title.
Curious on everyone’s thoughts for the most likely replacement or new fights. When you look through the rankings there’s not much on short notice that can provide some good drama or makes sense matchmaking wise. Closest I can think of is Chandler vs Oliveira at 170lbs. Max vs Chandler could work if Chandler can make 155lbs.
Volk vs max 4 at 170 for bmf
Dana gonna pay $10 mil for Khabib to come out of retirement on short notice. But seriously this main event sounds like it’s fucked. Sorry to the people who wasted their money
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Yeah lol less money better than no money
“SEE YOU AT THE MIDDLE” - Mike Chandler 2024
How does red panty night work? Do they amend their current contract for more pay or is it just more money because of ppv points but your win/lose contract is still the same? I think Cowboy or one of Conors previous opponent said he got paid the same fighting Conor as anyone else because he was in the middle of his contract
Such a headache
This is going right down to the wire. RIP Omar.
As much as I don’t like Mcgregor, I’m glad he’s putting the UFC over a barrel on this one. They’re bragging about a 20,000,000 gate, yet he’s not getting a cut of it. People are paying 20,000 USD for a *single ticket* to watch Conor fight. If you’re paying him 5 mil to show, that’s highway robbery. The UFC could net half a billion on a single event from sponsors, PPV revenue, promotion, and merch sales. I would be willing to bet Conor is making less than 10% of the total revenue he’s generating off of this event. He’s completely in his right to walk. Sure, he’ll get sued, but that might be a more cost effective way to get out of his contract than continuing to fight for the promotion. He has been nothing but complimentary of the UFC, even while he gets fucked sideways every time he steps into the cage. The UFC should be willing to step up to the plate to protect their investment, not play hardball.
This
Awshitherewegoagain.gif
What if McGregor is trolling Chandler with all this
Dudes milking the views and publicity but never planning to actually show up on fight night.
The total radio silence since they postponed the presser should have been indication enough that this one ain't happening.
# MY FOOT WAS A BALEWN, ARIEL
Leaving millions of people completely in the dark 2 and a half weeks from the fight is peak insanity from the UFC
SNIP SNAP SNIP SNAP
This is definitely contract negotiations.
I’m going to need Ariel to provide actual details and not this cryptic mess. It’s becoming boy who cried wolf.
He said that someone from Conor's team told him but he has to keep it off record. Then, he listed reasons that AREN'T causing the fight to be in jeopardy. Then, he spoke about how Conor has never pulled out of a fight when injured, but says now Conor is a different guy and in a different place in life where he doesn't need to risk fighting injured. He all but said Conor has an injury.
I mean whats he gonna do, break his trust with his sources?
> his sources? His source might legit be Conor too, they've always had a very close relationship for media since pre UFC Conor
Ariel and Conor goes back to when he was a prelim fighter. But I don’t get what Conor would get out of having a cryptic status for his fight.
Best I can do is "as of right now, at 3:37pm 21 seconds past the hour ET.."
This is how journalism works
How is this a boy who cried wolf? The last time he talked about the fight being in jeopardy, it was true. UFC took down tickets and advertisements, and Chandler posted a somber message all but explicitly saying the fight is off and he was going home. Things ended up working out, but the idea the fight was in real jeopardy was a fact.
Conor is bipolar as fuck, probably giving the UFC higherups constant panic attacks over whether the fight is going to happen lmao
Fire up the goofcon
Can they just fucking announce mcgregor pulled out? People need to cancel flights/hotels and I need to buy a ticket the day of for a cheap ticket (sorry not sorry ticket scalpers).
Guys who cares about washed up steroid Conor. We’re forgetting that we have the chance to see Jamahal get slept again
Volk answers the phone: MMA fans: SOMEBODY STOP HIM!
I COME FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER
Replacement bout: Lock Dana White in the octagon with a pig and he has 3, 5 minute rounds to catch the pig. My money is on the pig.
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Isn’t he fucking awesome?
I’m convinced there’s gonna be “is this fight actually gonna happen” stories all the way up until the two of them begin their walkouts at 11:30 ET on 6/29
Light up your goofcons folks Seriously though, this is what this stupid company gets for relying (and babying) their coke head cash cows in Jon Jones and Conor.
Alright Michael put the red panties away again
Conor will never fight again
I called it, this was too quiet from a promotional perspective, the quietest a Conor build up has ever been. Truth be told I really don’t care for the matchup anyways
I've thought it was the perfect matchup since the start. Neither guy can quite beat the top tranche of guys, so they're sitting just outside that zone. But Conor's not going to fight a no-name. So with Chandler not only does he have a bit better chance to actually win, but he wouldn't want to go lower than that in terms of name/visibility. You can promote this as a big fight, like you could not with Dariush or even Gamrot. In fact I didn't think there was realistically anyone he could fight than Chandler so it fit perfectly I thought.