Anything can happen in the UFC, but this move was unprecedented.
Less than 12 hours before the news conference for UFC 303 in Dublin, Ireland, the MMA organization called it off with no reason given for postponement.
“Dear UFC Fans, The #UFC303 press conference scheduled for Monday June 3rd in Dublin, Ireland at 3Arena has been postponed until further notice,” UFC posted on X. “We sincerely apologize to all the fans who were planning to attend. When we have further information on a new date and time, we will share it immediately. – Thank you.”
The event is set to be Irish superstar Conor McGregor’s return to the octagon, facing off with Michael Chandler in Las Vegas later this month.
But with the cancellation of the news conference on such short notice, rumours began swirling online — especially after McGregor had posted videos on social media of himself partying at a club on the weekend.
In one video, McGregor was seen dancing and taking his shirt off before grabbing and kissing wife Dee Devlin.
In another clip, the UFC icon could be seen dancing in front of his glamorous Forged Irish Stout workers.
UFC president Dana White did not mentioned any issues when speaking to the press following Saturday’s UFC 302 and he was expected to be in attendance for Monday’s event.
According to a report by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, while there was no official reason for the postponement, he said that the reason is 100% not related to any sort of potential scandal such as a legal, drugs, alcohol or an anti-doping issue.
Helwani also reported that Chandler was informed of the cancellation on Sunday just before he was set to fly to Ireland for the U.S.
Tickets to the free event had been snapped up quickly with McGregor being a massive star in his home country.
McGregor hasn’t competed in the UFC in almost three years, with his most recent bout taking place at UFC 264 in July 2021.
The former two-division champion lost the fight to Dustin Poirier after suffering a broken leg in the first round.