Matt Brown believes Conor McGregor is "not ever coming back" in wake of UFC 303 withdrawal: "I hope he proves me wrong" 

Former UFC fighter Matt Brown recently expressed his thoughts on Conor McGregor. Brown is skeptical about McGregor's return to the octagon after his bout against Michael Chandler got canceled.

McGregor was scheduled to make his highly anticipated comeback against Chandler at the promotion's annual International Fight Week event, capped off by UFC 303. The five-round, 170-pound bout was set to take place on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

However, the former two-division champion's plans were derailed when he sustained an injury during training camp. Following McGregor's forced withdrawal from the event, the promotion redesigned the main card, removing Chandler in the process. They will now have to wait for 'The Notorious' to fully heal before rescheduling the fight.

The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast's most recent episode had Brown talking about McGregor's decision to back out of UFC 303. He emphasized that with his injury, the Irishman might never make it back to the octagon:

''It didn’t shock me when I saw he was out of this fight. No, I’m still on that same train, he’s not ever coming back. I say the same thing I said before, I hope he proves me wrong. I hope I’m wrong. I would like to see Conor fight again. I would like to see him do a real training camp with real training partners, push himself hard, go back to the great Conor that he was before. I would love to see that. I think a lot of people would love to see that. It’s not happening.”

Check out Matt Brown's comments below:

Chandler recently released a statement about McGregor's disappointing withdrawal from the main event of UFC 303. He took to X and wrote:

''Official statement: 'I’m here, just as in 2009 when I started. The most reliable man in MMA. See you when I see you.'"

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When Conor McGregor chastised Matt Brown for his harsh comments

Conor McGregor previously criticized Matt Brown for dismissing his future possibilities in the sport.

During an appearance on the aforementioned podcast last year, Brown expressed concerns about McGregor's ability to return to championship form.

McGregor wasted no time in replying to Brown's remarks. In a post on X, 'The Notorious' shared a photo from UFC 206, where Matt Brown was knocked out by Donald Cerrone's head kick. He wrote:

"Ya'll wanna see a dead body?"

Check out Conor McGregor's now-deleted post below:

Screenshot of Conor McGregor's now-deleted X post on Matt Brown