McGregor out of UFC 303, Pereira-Prochazka fills in

Conor McGregor is out of UFC 303 due to injury, Dana White announced Thursday.

A light heavyweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka will replace the McGregor-Michael Chandler fight on the June 29 card.

No new date was announced for McGregor-Chandler, though the UFC is hoping for an August or September date, according to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.

It was heavily rumored that McGregor's fight against Chandler was in great jeopardy in the leadup to White's announcement. First signs of trouble brewed when a June 3 press conference in Dublin with the two fighters was canceled just 12 hours before it was set to begin.

McGregor reportedly suffered an injury "about a day or so" before the June 3 press conference, Helwani adds. The UFC was mum on why the event was canceled due to the hope that the fight would remain on the card. There was optimism that the fight could still go on, though roughly 48 hours ago, the UFC reportedly began working with the assumption that the heavily anticipated fight wouldn't occur.

McGregor has been out of UFC action since July 2021, when he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier.

The top choice from the start to be the new UFC 303 main event appeared to be Pereira versus Prochazka, Helwani notes.

Pereira won the light heavyweight bout against Prochazka in November 2023 at UFC 295. He defeated the Czech fighter via TKO in the second round to capture the then-vacant championship.

Pereira made his first title defense at UFC 300 this past April by defeating Jamahal Hill via first-round KO.

Hill, who was initially slated for the UFC 303 co-main event against Carlos Ulberg, is also dropping off the card with a knee injury. Anthony Smith will take on Ulberg in his place, though the fight will lose its co-main event status.

Brian Ortega will face Diego Lopes in the new co-main event.

The June 29 card is set to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.