The cancellation of Conor McGregor‘s UFC 303 press conference has started a storm of theories and speculations. The most worrying thing is that this portends ill omens for his scheduled UFC 303 main event bout against Michael Chandler.

With all parties—the UFC, Michael Chandler, and Conor McGregor himself (who tweeted an apology but shed no light on the reasons)—being curiously silent on the cause of this cancellation, fans have come up with wild theories about the whole affair. And former UFC star and podcaster Brendan Schaub thinks the media day was canceled because all is not well between the UFC and its prodigal son.

Schaub rules out drug issues for Conor McGregor’s press conference move

Discussing the press conference fiasco on his podcast with comedian Bryan Callen, Brendan Schaub felt that the reason behind it was not a failed drug test, as has been speculated online, saying it ‘doesn’t make sense’. Schaub pointed out that the UFC CEO would have been the first to know in case ‘Mac’ had failed a drug test and wouldn’t have flown out to Dublin at all if that was the case.

“That one [a failed drug test] doesn’t make sense because remember if it was a drug testing failure or an injury, the UFC would come out and say that off the top. Dana’s not going to fly there, ‘cuz trust me, when you fail a drug test, the very first person who finds out at that magnitude of a fight is Dana White; he wouldn’t get on a plane,” he said.

‘Bapa’ thought that the reason McGregor chose not to attend the press conference was because of “something more personal between Conor and the UFC.” And that may well be the case, with one plausible possibility being the ongoing contract negotiations between ‘Notorious’ and the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The Irishman, still the biggest star in the sport, has two fights left on his UFC contract. Last month, he revealed that his team was in talks with the UFC to agree to terms for a contract extension, emphasizing that the negotiations were happening in a respectful and amicable environment. And there is a chance the environment is not so respectful anymore, leading ‘Mac’ to decide to call off the press conference to flex his muscles. However, Schaub had different ideas.

Schaub thinks the media tour is behind ‘Mac’ and the UFC’s friction

Brendan Schaub told his co-hosts that he felt the reason behind McGregor’s alleged falling-out with the UFC may be because of the media and press obligations that the promotion wanted ‘Mac’ to fulfill to hype up and promote the T-Mobile Arena card in Las Vegas.

“I think maybe it’s with the PR… when you promote a movie and you’re going all over the world, doing how many interviews and he just got done with that I think he told the UFC ‘I’ll promote this thing but I’m not doing all this crazy sh**. And they’re like ‘okay, buddy’ and they sent him a list… And I think Conor was like ‘hold up’ you’re forgetting I don’t have to do this I’m just doing it for the f**k of it because I’m bored at home,” he added.

McGregor, of course, is coming off a worldwide tour to promote his Hollywood debut project, ‘Road House’, which was released this March. And Schaub felt that ‘Notorious’ had had enough of press tours and had told the UFC he was not going to go on any more of them. Facing resistance from the UFC over it, McGregor decided not to do the press conference simply to prove a point, according to Schaub. What are your thoughts on Brendan Schaub’s theory?