The entire world of mixed martial arts was left in shock as the UFC dropped an apology text on social media. It addressed the press conference for UFC 303, which would feature the return of Conor McGregor against Michael Chandler. As soon as the MMA promotion shared the news on social media, the fighting community began speculating the reason for the deferral. And PED violation was one such speculation that appeared in the fans’ minds. With McGregor’s partying spirit, that’s what the fans thought. 

After the MMA community called out the Irish mixed martial artist, he had no choice but to explain. Despite that rumors kept spreading like wildfire. Another one of the rumors was McGregor suffering from an injury, which was cleared out pretty soon. And now, the famed MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, revealed that the press conference wasn’t postponed due to any violation.

UFC insider clears the air about the postponement of UFC 303 press conference

In the recent episode of ‘The MMA Hour’, Ariel Helwani talked about the reason why the press conference was postponed. It was supposed to take place on the 3rd of June, at 3Arena, Dublin. Even though the venue could hold 8000 people, it was completely booked with fans from all over the world wishing to witness the return of ‘The Notorious’. 

But Helwani revealed, ‘UFC 303 Dublin press conference was not postponed due to a drug or alcohol issue or a PED violation.” Furthermore, he claimed that there wasn’t any drama hidden behind the sudden decision. He claimed that there was nothing salacious about it all. 

But people kept wondering if the ‘Mystic Mac’ was still going to fight ‘Iron’. To answer the fans’ question, the Canadian MMA reporter affirmed that there was no change in the schedule for UFC 303. Needless to say, the fight fans were somewhat relieved with Helwani’s speculations. He said, “I can tell you that the press conference was postponed today due to an issue that has precluded it from happening. And so, the question now is A, are they going to pick a new day? And of course on everyone’s mind is will this affect June 29th?…As of this second…June 29th is still on.”

But McGregor wasn’t silent on it either. After the fighting community urged the Irishman, he took to X and tried to justify the reason why wasn’t there for the press conference. Let’s find out what the former double champion had to say.

Conor McGregor finally gives his explanation

Hours after the UFC announced the postponement of the UFC 303 press conference, the Irish mixed martial artist revealed in a tweet that it was all a result of unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances. Thereafter, he apologized to the fans for the inconvenience they faced. 

The tweet read, “In consultation with the UFC, todays press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control. I apologize to my Irish fans, and fans around the world, for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon.” The UFC fans also speculated that the postponement was due to McGregor’s partying habits. 

But the UFC CEO, Dana White, declared that it simply didn’t matter whether the Irish fighter partied or not. He seemed to disregard what the internet had to speculate. But one thing was certain. The fight is not canceled. Thankfully, the fight fans would still get to watch the fight between McGregor and Chandler on 29 June, as announced.

Why do you think the press conference was postponed? Let us know in the comments down below.