“What Safety Concerns”: Dublin Unrest Before Conor McGregor’s UFC 303 Press Conference Cancelation Fuels Unexpected Fan Theories

Will Conor McGregor fight Michael Chandler in the octagon at UFC 303 on 29th June? That is the question running through everyone’s mind right now, considering the updates coming in like a domino on the developments surrounding the McGregor vs. Chandler fight. On top of that, the UFC world has donned its Sherlock mode and is speculating about the reasons why the press conference scheduled to happen in Ireland got canceled at the last moment. Both UFC and McGregor apologized to the fans who got the tickets and announced the cancellation on Twitter.

The June 3 conference was postponed just 12 hours before the starting time. UFC said, “Dear UFC Fans, The #UFC303 press conference scheduled for Monday, June 3rd in Dublin, Ireland at 3Arena has been postponed until further notice, we sincerely apologize to all the fans who were planning to attend.” Moreover, ‘The Notorious’ also wrote a cryptic tweet where he stated that the conference was canceled “due to a series of obstacles outside of our control.”

McGregor apologized to the fans, but this statement has now made UFC buffs and veterans come up with their theories. Josh Thomson, Michael Bisping, and Chael Sonnen have speculated on the reasons for the cancelation with Thompson and Bisping saying that it might be an injury or that he needs more time for training. But it does not end here! There have been reports that the ESPN official page took down the ads for this fight and the PPV cannot be purchased on ESPN as of now. Even UFC removed the pinned post of UFC 303 and this might suggest a potential rift between ‘Mystic Mac’ and UFC.

On the other hand, there has been a recent development in Dublin just after this cancellation, where some 200 individuals were seen having a peaceful protest on the streets of O’Connell Bridge. Currently, a Twitter account by the name of Best MMA Moments asked the fans if this was the reason that the conference got postponed. Let’s see what the fans had to theorize.

UFC fans spark different theories on the reason why McGregor vs Chandler stands postponed

McGregor apologized to all his fans after the conference in Dublin was canceled. However, he did not say anything else as of now and he was seen posting about Black Forge Inn’s best cocktails 17 hours ago on Instagram. In the meantime, the fans have started their speculations, and one fan asked obliviously, “What safety concerns?” while another follower dissed the former dual-weight champ, writing, “So Conor obv isn’t a big deal there since people didn’t care about his presser.”

One follower gave their reasoning and wrote, “This ain’t an excuse for canceling a press conference tf  this is like 200 people at least.” People still do not know the actual reason for the cancellation and there are two to three theories. One of which states that there might be a rift between UFC and McGregor over his contract renewal. He was supposed to have two fights left but he wanted to fight a third time, and this might be the reason for the delay.

Another fan pointed out how ESPN removed all the posts of UFC 303 and wrote, “I would’ve believed it if ESPN and UFC didn’t take all the Conor media down they dropped days before…this fight won’t happen.” One netizen gave their firsthand experience about the peaceful protest and said, “I was supposed to be attending the presser yesterday, ran into this protest in Dublin yesterday, maybe 200 people marching peacefully up O’ Connell street, other than the protesters chanting there was no trouble whatsoever, definitely not cause for a security threat, the protest was about 4 kilometers away from the 3 Arena.”  Another fan went a little political and said, “Who are they going to try to say the Irish took the island from first?”

One UFC follower stated that this had nothing to do with UFC and if this theory stands true, even then it was a peaceful protest. They wrote, “has nothing to do with the UFC, this was considered a peaceful protest. stop villainizing these people smh.” Now Chael Sonnen also came out with his verdict like others did and he thinks that the fight is still on.

Bisping thinks the same and both said that this is also not due to any drug test failing. What do you think is the reason, then? Share your thoughts below as we wait and see if ‘The Notorious’ gives some answers.