UFC Rumors: Conor McGregor's injury, Israel Adesanya's return, and more

The UFC is undeniably the world's premier mixed martial arts promotion and is widely considered the pinnacle of success for fighters who step into the octagon. Given that the promotion regularly puts together blockbuster pay-per-view events featuring some of the world's biggest MMA fighters, there's no shortage of drama surrounding these fight cards and entities.

Conor McGregor is booked to make his highly anticipated return to action against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 later this month. However, the Irishman's return could be in jeopardy due to unknown reasons, with many speculating that he's injured.

Elsewhere, rumors of Israel Adesanya returning began swirling on social media after Dan Hooker and Dricus du Plessis' latest comments.

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Conor McGregor fuels injury rumors after latest social media post-and-delete ahead of UFC 303

While fans were hyped to see Conor McGregor return to action against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 after almost three years, it appears the fight could be scrapped from the card.

Earlier this month, a highly anticipated UFC 303 pre-fight press conference in Dublin was surprisingly canceled for unknown reasons. This new development didn't go down well with fans, who were already questioning McGregor partying hard in the weeks leading up to his comeback fight.

Later, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani shared a worrying update about the fight being in jeopardy. He stated that the bout was "in limbo," and the promotion was actively looking at other options to save the card. To add to the drama, McGregor posted an old video of him talking about injuries on Instagram before deleting it shortly after.

These developments led to many fans suspecting that the McGregor-Chandler fight was off, and rumors began spreading on social media that it would only be a matter of time before the UFC officially confirmed the same. However, Chandler's teammate Jason Jackson shared some hopeful news.

The Bellator welterweight champion recently spoke to Sportskeeda MMA in an exclusive interview and stated that 'Iron' was laser-focused on fighting McGregor on June 29. He also stated that the fight is on and there weren't any changes to the UFC 303 card.

It remains to be seen whether the McGregor-Chandler fight happens as scheduled.

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Dan Hooker and Dricus du Plessis ignite Israel Adesanya's UFC return rumors

Dan Hooker and Dricus du Plessis recently sent UFC fans into a frenzy after potentially revealing Israel Adesanya's return date. The former middleweight champion has been out of action since his surprising title loss against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last year. In the aftermath, he stated he's taking an extended vacation from fighting, and fans won't see him compete before 2027.

During a recent interview, Adesanya's longtime teammate and friend Hooker opened up about a potential return date for the former champion. 'The Hangman' stated that the promotion offered Adesanya a spot on the UFC 305 card in Perth, Australia.

While this unsurprisingly ignited fan rumors about Adesanya fighting at UFC 305, du Plessis fueled the speculations further. The UFC middleweight champion recently let it slip that he's agreed to fight Adesanya and isn't sure why the promotion hadn't officially announced it.

Catch Dricus du Plessis' comments below (0:45):

It's also worth noting that du Plessis and Adesanya have no love for each other and have eagerly angled for this grudge match to go down. While there's no confirmation from the promotion, the rumor mill is buzzing with the idea of 'The Last Stylebender' making his long-awaited return to action.

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Reports suggest ex-UFC star Mike Perry could replace Mike Tyson to fight Jake Paul in boxing match

The controversial Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match was recently confirmed to have been postponed to November due to concerns surrounding the legendary boxer's health. In the aftermath, a popular combat sports-based X handle, @HappyPunch, reported that Mike Perry had stepped in to replace Tyson.

Perry is widely regarded as the face of bare-knuckle boxing today and has been calling for a fight against any of the Paul brothers for a while. 'Platinum' was notably roped in as the backup fighter for the Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis fight.

After it was confirmed that Tyson couldn't compete on July 20, fans began pushing for the bout to be scrapped, keeping the legendary boxer's age in mind. After @HappyPunch reported that Perry had stepped in to save the July 20 card, fans went into a frenzy as the BKFC star is widely seen as a formidable opponent for the former Disney star.

Later, Paul took to X and addressed the rumors surrounding the fight. He confirmed that he was fighting Tyson and was confident of getting a win. However, he didn't dismiss Perry allegedly stepping in to replace Tyson on the July 20 card.

It remains to be seen if the much anticipated Paul vs. Perry boxing match goes down.