"Last time he got bald he got KO'd" - Fans react to Conor McGregor changing his appearance days after pulling out from UFC 303 fight

Conor McGregor appeared set to make his highly-anticipated return to the octagon against Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303. 'The Notorious' was forced to withdraw from the bout - which would have marked his first appearance since breaking his leg at UFC 264 in July 2021 nearly three years ago - with an undisclosed injury.

The former double champ shared a photo of himself and his youngest of four children, Mack McGregor, for Father's Day and he was notably sporting a change to his appearance. Championship Rounds shared the picture, captioning the post:

"Bald McGregor is back 🔥 📸 IG / @TheNotoriousMMA #UFC #MMA"

Check out the post from Championship Rounds below:

Fans shared a variety of reactions to the post. @heracleshadeas noted that the last time 'The Notorious' shaved his head - when he faced Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 - he suffered a knockout loss:

"last time he bald he got ko‘d"

@king_suzaku claimed that the former double champ is back to not fighting:

"Back to not fighting. He really got everyone to pay thousands for tickets just to not show up."

@Cal_UpTheTigs suggested that McGregor's left leg is once again injured:

"Left the door open so they could quickly grab his crutches for that mangled left leg."

@CurrentPulseHQ claimed that he pulled out of his UFC 303 bout against Chandler for a reason that had nothing to do with an injury:

"Bro pulled out to get a hair transplant"

Check out the best fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

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Conor McGregor releases statement on UFC 303 withdrawal

Conor McGregor was set to make his return to the octagon against Michael Chandler in just under two weeks. 'The Notorious', however, was forced to withdraw from the bout with an undisclosed injury. He took to X on Saturday to share his thoughts on pulling out of the fight, stating:

"Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout. I picked up an injury prior to the press conference that required more time to heal than was available to me. The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team. My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back! ☘️"

Check out Conor McGregor's tweet on pulling out of UFC 303 below:

While many believe that his latest setback will mark the end of McGregor's mixed martial arts career, all signs indicate that the bout has been postponed rather than canceled. It is unclear when the two would clash, however, early signs point towards August or September as possibilities.