It’s all change at the top of the fight card for UFC International Fight Week as the news the MMA world feared would come finally arrived. Conor McGregor is officially out of UFC 303.
The event’s fight card has had some major surgery as the UFC has once again shown its agility by adapting to the cancellation of the planned main event between McGregor and Michael Chandler on June 29.
Doubts had been cast over McGregor’s participation in his planned bout with Michael Chandler after their Dublin press conference was abruptly cancelled earlier this month.
Unusually, concrete information on what had happened was nowhere to be found, with both McGregor’s camp and the UFC maintaining radio silence. During that time, the UFC set to work on rebuilding the top of the card, with reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira agreeing to step up on just two weeks’ notice to put his title on the line against former champion – and the man he defeated to win the 205-pound title – Jiri Prochazka.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the news on Friday night in a video posted to his social media channels, as he confirmed that McGregor was ruled out of the event, and that the UFC had booked a new main and co-main event lineup for the show, though no specific reasons were given for McGregor’s withdrawal.
UFC 303 International Fight Week June 29th pic.twitter.com/P47PSsKcg0
— danawhite (@danawhite) June 14, 2024
Chief support will now be provided by a pivotal featherweight clash between former title challenger Brian Ortega and rising contender Diego Lopes.
In another change to the card, White also confirmed that another former UFC champion, Jamahal Hill, had also been forced off the card. His opponent Carlos Ulberg – himself a replacement for the suspended Khalil Rountree Jr. – will now face former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith.
More action coming to the #UFC303 main card 💥@BrianTCity vs @DiegoLopesMMA in the co-main event!
Anthony Smith steps in against @UlbergCarlos! pic.twitter.com/aZAqNT8N9d
— UFC (@ufc) June 14, 2024
It means UFC 303 now looks markedly different to the event that was originally planned. But, with a dynamite light heavyweight title rematch drafted in as a replacement, fight night on June 29 should finish with a bang as two of the most entertaining fighters in the heavier weight divisions go head to head for the second time.
The first meeting between the pair came at UFC 295, when former middleweight champion Pereira and former light heavyweight champion Prochazka did battle in the main event at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the vacant undisputed 205-pound title.
Pereira claimed the second-round TKO finish in a sequence that some fans felt was too quick a stoppage, though Prochazka himself praised referee Marc Goddard for his intervention and saying that the stoppage was justified.
Since that win, Pereira has gone on to defend his title with a first-round knockout of former champion Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 300. Now “Poatan” has answered the call to headline another huge UFC pay-per-view card, and he’ll do it against a familiar foe.
Prochazka captured the undisputed light heavyweight title with a fifth-round submission of Pereira’s friend and mentor Glover Teixeira at UFC 274 back in June 2022, but a shoulder injury forced the newly-crowned champion to go into a lengthy hiatus for surgery and rehab, and he relinquished his title in the process.
He returned looking to reclaim the belt he never lost in the cage, but was stopped by Pereira at UFC 295. Since that defeat, the Czech star returned to winning ways with a second-round TKO of fellow European contender Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300. That win earned Prochazka a special $300,000 Performance of the Night bonus. And, as we now know, it also earned him a rematch for the title in Las Vegas in just two weeks’ time.
UFC 303: Updated fight card
MAIN CARD
- Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka – for light heavyweight title
- Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
- Joe Pyfer vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael Page
- Carlos Ulberg vs. Anthony Smith
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Cub Swanson vs. Andre Fili
- Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Gillian Robertson
- Carlos Hernandez vs. Rei Tsuruya
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson
- Ricky Simon vs. Vinicius Oliveira
- Payton Talbott vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Martin Buday
- Charles Jourdain vs. Jean Silva
