In a surprising development today’s UFC 303 press conference in Dublin, Ireland featuring Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler has been postponed until further notice.
“Dear UFC Fans,” A statement on the UFC’s official Instagram account reads.
“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. When we have further information on a new date and time, we will share it immediately. – Thank you.”
Free tickets to the presser at the 3Arena in Dublin has been snapped up by fans in minutes last week, while Dana White had said he’d be flying to Dublin immediately after Saturday night’s UFC 302 event in New Jersey.
No explanation has been given for the postponement, which has led to concerns that the fight may be in jeopardy, less than four weeks before the showdown takes place on June 29th in Las Vegas.
Fans had already been left questioning how seriously McGregor was taking his comeback fight given that late last month he had posted footage of him partying at his own Black Forge Inn in Dublin, and then again this past weekend, though in a recent interview he claimed he’s abstaining from drinking alcohol.
Dana White was asked for his thoughts on McGregor’s partying at Saturday night’s UFC 302 presser, and at that stage his response suggested he wasn’t overly concerned about it and was even questioning whether his antics were real or not.
“Jon Jones was doing a lot of that stuff too back in the day and many other fighters throughout history,” White said.
“I don’t know what’s real on the internet and what’s not real on the internet. I don’t know timing-wise; in one of them he’s got a beard, in one of them he doesn’t have a beard.
“I have no idea, I don’t know if any of that is real or true or whatever. But Conor is not a dumb guy and this is obviously a big fight for him. He’s calling it the best comeback in the history of sports and all of that stuff. So we’ll see what happens.”
And at that stage White gave no indication that the presser was on the verge of being postponed as he was literally about to head to Ireland for it after the press conference was over.
“I’ll actually be with him tomorrow, so, I’m flying there right now. So I’ll see what’s going on.”
The fact that less than a day after White’s arrival the presser has been postponed without any explanation doesn’t inspire confidence and is likely to send the rumor mill into overdrive until we hear more on the reason for the delay.
