MMA News Roundup: Rumored Eye Cut Behind Conor McGregor’s UFC 303 Pullout? Dana White Leaks UFC 305, Khamzat Chimaev Replacement Offer Comes to Light

It’s time to catch up on the biggest stories from the MMA world, and we have yet another edition of the daily roundup to keep you covered. Hence, today’s news compilation will start with the developing story about the undisclosed injury that led Conor McGregor to pull out of UFC 303. It appears that he may have had an injury in his eye.

Then we will shift our focus to UFC CEO Dana White, who seemingly leaked important details about the UFC 305 pay-per-view in Australia. Finally, we will end this roundup edition with the news of UFC Saudi Arabia. Apparently, Bo Nickal was offered to headline the event on 22nd June, as per his recent revelation.

Has Conor McGregor injured his eye which led him to pull out of UFC 303?

The speculations about the pullout have been running wild, especially on social media, where Conor McGregor issued a statement regarding the canceled fight on June 29. The Irishman was distraught, to say the least, and even revealed to have arrived at the decision to pull out, for the first time in his career, from the Michael Chandler fight after consulting his doctors, his team, and the UFC execs due to the injury. But the question remains – what kind of injury did he suffer? McGregor didn’t explain what went down, but MMA enthusiasts decided to get to the nitty-gritty of the situation.

Many UFC stars shared social media posts during Father’s Day and one of the ones that stood out was a hilarious edited picture Dustin Poirier shared on his Instagram stories. He took a jibe at Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler after their fight plans went to waste. However, what caught the eye of the fans on Reddit was the Father’s Day post shared by ‘The Notorious’.

Apparently, Conor McGregor’s left eye seemed to have been bruised since the Irish megastar was wearing dark sunglasses. Immediately, discussions started taking place about the undisclosed injury being cut in Conor McGregor’s eye. For some fans, the former dual-weight champion deliberately used this cut as a means to pull out of the fight, similar to Charles Oliveira at UFC 294. However, it has not been confirmed and we will have to wait for further developments on this front. Now, let’s move over to Dana White, who may have revealed his plans for UFC 305.

‘War Room’ reveals Dana White’s UFC 305 plans

The ‘War Room’ is where all the important behind-the-scenes business goes down in the UFC. Dana White, Hunter Campbell, and others involved in matchmaking decided the fate of the fighters by setting up fights for them, and more often than not, we don’t get to see what goes down in the ‘War Room’. However, keen observers on the internet never fail to assess whatever material they get. They’ve infiltrated the war room before, and now, they’ve given life to a new development, about UFC 305.

While announcing the replacement main event fight for UFC 303, eagle-eyed fans noticed a couple of potential fighters draw on the ‘War Room’ board for UFC 305, and had some big names on it. It seems like Israel Adesanya might finally make his comeback following the upset loss at UFC 293 in the neighboring nation to his home country, Australia, on 17th August. Joining ‘Izzy’ at UFC 305 will be Jack Della Maddalena, Song Yadong, Steve Erceg, and Drakkar Klose. It remains to be seen if that’s what the final announcement will look like. But before we get to the August PPV, let’s have a look at the next UFC event in sight: UFC Saudi Arabia.

A UFC middleweight prospect was offered to replace Khamzat Chimaev

Just like UFC 303, the promotion’s first event in Saudi Arabia also suffered a setback when Khamzat Chimaev was deemed ill and unable to compete against Robert Whittaker. Now, Ikram Aliskerov has stepped up to fill those shoes and fight in a main event early in his UFC career. Well, it appears that he wasn’t the first newbie in the UFC who was offered that fight because Bo Nickal came out recently to reveal that he received an offer to replace Chimaev. However, the 28-year-old was stuck in a difficult position at that time.

“Unfortunately, I got a call while I was in the mountains of Montana, and I didn’t get back to cell service for 3 days. I came back to cell service to a few text messages saying,’ Call me back, call me back, call me back!’ And it was too late,” Bo Nickal revealed on his ‘Nickals and Dimes’ podcast. It will be interesting to see if Dana White adds to these claims from the 28-year-old in the days to come.