Dana White and the UFC habitually pull rabbits out of hats. However, they are in a predicament as Conor McGregor does not seem to be fighting at UFC 303. McGregor has never pulled out from a fight, but rumors speculate the Irishman won’t fight on June 29th.
With McGregor seemingly out, the MMA community pondered potential fighters or fights that could replace McGregor or the UFC 303 main event. UFC 303 is in two weeks, and there is a very less chance a champion will put his title on the line, on short notice.
Ariel Helwani Discusses Dana White and the UFC’s predicament
Dana White entertained the MMA community by announcing Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference. The promo for UFC 303 spread like wildfire on social media. Unfortunately for White, McGregor won’t likely fight at the event. To make matters worse, there are no good replacements available, according to Ariel Helwani.
“I don’t think [Sean] O’Malley’s fighting on two weeks’ notice. They have plans for him coming up against Merab [Dvalishvili]. I don’t think [Alexandre] Pantoja is stepping in; I just don’t think that’s going to suffice. [Ilia] Topuria, they also have plans for. I don’t think that they’re going to divert from those plans on two weeks’ notice. [Islam] Makhachev just fought, Leon’s [Edwards] fighting July 27th. Is there a DDP [Dricus du Plessis] scenario out there? We know he was supposed to fight Izzy [Adesanya]. I don’t think Izzy’s fighting on two weeks’ notice,” said Helwani.
“Is there an Alex Pereira scenario out there? I mean, we know he has two broken toes. We also know that he’s in Australia. Does he take the fight? Does he fight Jiri [Prochazka]? It seems like Jiri was saying to people this weekend at the Octagon show that there’s something in the works. A lot of people are pointing to that. Jon Jones is hurt. [Tom] Aspinall is fighting. [Alexa] Grasso is fighting [Valentina] Shevchenko at some point. I don’t think Zhang Weili is going to do it, but you know, that could be one. Does that suffice? I don’t know,” Helwani added.
Even though chances are slim, Prochazka vs. Pereira II seems to be the only replacement available. Prochazka vs. Pereira saved the UFC 295 PPV in 2023 when Jon Jones pulled out of the original UFC 295 main event fight with Stipe Miocic. Will it happen again? It remains to be seen.
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