Conor McGregor has finally made a statement after pulling out of his first fight in three years that was set for this month.

The Irishman was due to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, but an undisclosed injury has forced him out of the bout. It was announced on Thursday night that his fight was off, with Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka 2 being announced as the new main event.

McGregor has been out of action since the summer of 2021 when he suffered a brutal leg break against Dustin Poirier. And he will have to wait another few months for his return to the octagon, telling fans that he still plans to fight going forward.

Conor McGregor releases first statement since UFC 303 fight with Michael Chandler was cancelled

Conor McGregor was due to face off with Michael Chandler at a press conference to launch their massive Vegas fight in Dublin earlier this month. But in the days before the event, which had sold out the 3Arena’s 10,000-plus capacity, he suffered an injury which led to them cancelling the initial face-off.

There was brief optimism that he might recover in time for the June 29 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena, which had already broken gate records for the UFC. However, this week it emerged that he wouldn’t be okay in time, and pulled out of the fight.

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And after two days of inactivity, McGregor has taken to social media, writing: “Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout. I picked up an injury prior to the press conference that required more time to heal than was available to me.

“The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team. My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!”

Dana White makes first comments since confirming new UFC 303 main event

On Thursday night, Dana White made the news official with a video on Instagram, where he announced a brand new slate of fights for UFC 303. He confirmed Pereira vs Prochazka 2 as well as Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes and Carlos Ulberg vs Anthony Smith.

The video was his second of the sort within just hours, after previously being forced to tell fans that next weekend’s UFC Saudi Arabia main event was also being changed. Khamzat Chimaev was replaced by Ikram Aliskerov due to a violent illness ahead of his bout with Robert Whittaker.

Since then, he has spoken to the Sports Business Journal, insisting that he wants to steer clear of talking about McGregor until he is fully recovered from his injury. “It’s been interesting because we had to switch the Saudi main event, which is next weekend.

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“You know what I mean? It’s f***ing days away, so for us to put in this guy Ikram Aliskerov who is 15-1, he’s Muslim and his only loss is to Khamzat Chimaev, and everyone in the division said no to fighting him except Robert Whittaker? I’m very happy [with the quality of the replacement fights].”

Speaking more specifically about McGregor, White added: “It’s the business, man,” White continued, having previously been forced into similar situations. This is the way it goes.

“And from here on I’m not going to talk about it until when he’s healed and he’s right. Then we’ll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out.”