MMA News Roundup: Real Reason for Conor McGregor’s UFC 303 Presser Cancelation, Dana White Disapproved by Team Khabib, Islam Makhachev Confirms Staph at UFC 302

Did you miss out on some big UFC headlines? Well, there’s nothing to worry about because we have another edition of the daily roundup for you. Let’s get to it! We’ll start off with the prompt cancellation of the UFC 303 press conference, which was supposed to go down in the hometown of Conor McGregor. The reason behind this may have come now to light.

Then we will take a detour and talk about the UFC CEO, Dana White. Apparently, his recent comments about the pound-for-pound best fighter status may have rubbed Team Khabib in the wrong way. Finally, we will sum up this compilation with the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, who admitted to having a staph infection before his recent Poirier fight.

Why was the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler press event canceled?

Well, the straight answer is that we don’t know the exact reason why the UFC 303 press conference got canceled. It was just yesterday when Dana White expressed his excitement about returning to the Emerald Isle. Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler were supposed to start spewing verbal jabs at each other ahead of their big-time fight. However, some fans have speculated that the cancelation may have happened due to the ongoing protests in the Irish capital.

Meanwhile, there were some other fans as well, who believed that the protests may not be the real reason for the event’s cancelation. As big as the UFC, as an organization is, the protests shouldn’t have been an issue. So could there have been a problem from either Conor McGregor’s or Michael Chandler’s end? However, there’s been no official word about this situation.

Team Khabib does not agree with Dana White

Islam Makhachev probably delivered one of the best performances ever at UFC 302. In a fight where many people counted out Dustin Poirier, he gave the champion the fight of his life. As Makhachev prevailed and earned his title victory, a few words about his pound-for-pound status from Dana White may have stuck him like a thorn. The UFC CEO believes that Jon Jones is the real pound-for-pound best fighter, which was ironic because Jon Jones hasn’t been nearly as active as Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s protégé. As such, AKA’s Javier Mendez spoke out in support of Makhachev.

“He proved that he’s the real champion, and in my opinion, he is pound-for-pound, because he went through adversity, he conquered adversity. Not one time did he falter. Not one time did he think that he wasn’t in the game. He was always pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing,” Javier Mendez told Red Corner MMA. There is no doubt that Islam Makhachev proved his mettle in his third title defense and shut down those critics who nagged him for not fighting a real 155er.

Lightweight champion’s rumors about staph infection were true

Paulo Costa and Islam Makhachev, both were suspected to have had staph infections. While the suspicions haven’t been confirmed from the Brazilian’s end, it has come true for the lightweight champion. Following his epic win over Dustin Poirier, Makhachev validated Conor McGregor’s accusations that he was indeed fighting with a staph infection but did not want to talk about it because pulling out was not an option.

“After coming such a long way, we didn’t even think about pulling out unless the doctors would [force me out],” (translated by Bloody Elbow) Islam Makhachev said during an interview with UFC Eurasia. Well, he showed great guts in clinching victory against ‘The Diamond’ and it will be interesting to see whom he defends the title against next.