Dana White addresses Conor McGregor pulling out of UFC 303 fight against Michael Chandler: "This is the way it goes"

To the dismay of fight fans around the world, Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler has been scrapped as the UFC 303 headliner after an injury forced the Irishman out of the event. Now, the promotion's CEO, Dana White, has addressed the situation in a recent media interaction.

Speaking to Sports Business Journal, the 54-year-old shed light on the situation, claiming:

"It's the business man. This is the way it goes. And from here on I'm not going to talk about it until he is healed and he is alright. Then we'll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out."

At this point, McGregor has been on the sidelines for almost three years. He was last seen in action in his 2021 trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier, during which he suffered his gruesome leg injury.

Many now believe that 'The Notorious' will never fight at a high level again. However, according to veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, the UFC is hoping to reschedule McGregor vs. Chandler for August or September.

The new UFC 303 main event features light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and former champion Jiri Prochazka. Pereira already holds a win against 'BJP'. In fact, the Brazilian won the 205-pound belt with a second-round TKO win over Prochazka at UFC 295.

Since then, the Czech national bounced back with a TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300, where Pereira defended his belt against Jamahal Hill.

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Michael Chandler on Conor McGregor pulling out of UFC 303

The biggest casualty of Conor McGregor's withdrawal from UFC 303 is Michael Chandler. 'Iron' had been patiently waiting for the fight for over a year and a half at this point. Chandler was last seen in action in a third-round submission defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in 2022.

However, now with the Irishman out with an injury, Chandler stands at risk of losing out on the biggest paycheck of his career.

Earlier today, the lightweight star took to Instagram to address the fight cancelation in a joined post with @megafitmeals. The statement read:

"Conor McGregor was never the safe bet as the opponent, he was always the highest risk. Maybe the highest reward, the biggest opportunity. There is no right or wrong in business. You only take risks to grow or remain comfortable where you are."