After days of speculation and cryptic messages, Michael Chandler has finally confirmed that UFC 303 is on.

The former Bellator champion was due to go head-to-head with Conor McGregor in Dublin on Monday at a sold-out 3Arena for a launch press conference. But with less than 12 hours until doors, the event was abruptly cancelled, and rumours abound about the fate of the super-fight.

But Chandler has now confirmed that the fight is still happening, confirming reports that the pair will be competing on June 29. Both he and McGregor have been cryptic in recent days, but a recent podcast appearance has seen him clear up the doubt officially.

Michael Chandler confirms that Conor McGregor fight at UFC 303 is on

With just weeks to go until the fight, Chandler was visited by Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder from The Pivot podcast. Clark visited his gym to watch training, and the trio then sat down for a lengthy interview.

Before kicking off their chat, the UFC star was asked “what’s happening?” He replied that he was just working away in fight camp, noting that he has “got this fight coming up”. When Clark jokingly asked “you think”, he confirmed the news that fans had been waiting to hear.

“I hope,” he began, before jokingly responding: “Yeah, allegedly.” He then got serious, telling the former football players “Yeah, the fight’s happening. Obviously where we are there’s a lot of speculation, but yeah, the fight is on, June 29, it’s happening.”

Michael Chandler explains his side of UFC 303 press conference cancellation

After a brief introduction and some banter, Clark got straight into the bones of the conversation, asking Chandler directly how he found out the press conference had been cancelled. Rumours had begun to swirl in Dublin on Sunday evening, and were confirmed early Monday.

Bloody Elbow sources confirmed that arena staff were told on Sunday via email that they wouldn’t have shifts the following day. However, it took hours after that email was sent for fans who had signed up for free tickets to be told.

“So I was actually up late that night because the fights were on the East Coast,” Chandler explained. “I didn’t get into bed until 12.30 or 1 because I wanted to watch Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier so I watched that fight.

“So I had probably fallen asleep for maybe 45 minutes or an hour and I woke up to my phone buzzing and it was Hunter Campbell. Everybody knows that Dana White is the face but Hunter is the guy behind the guy, he handles a lot of stuff behind the scenes for the UFC.

“He called me and let me know ‘hey, it’s looking like this thing isn’t going to happen’. Then I laid there and thought about it for quite a while and the next morning we got on a call and he said ‘it’s not happening’.”

Michael Chandler shuts down speculation Conor McGregor fight could be off

Michael Chandler has been preparing for McGregor since the start of last year when it was announced that the pair would be coaching opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter. The Irishman has been out for three years with an injury, and the date has already been postponed unofficially for a long time.

But the latest cancellation sent shivers down the spine of fans worldwide, with the event already breaking records at the gate for money made. “Obviously a cancelled presser, not that big of a deal,” he noted. “It happens.

“But its the layers in which ‘okay if the presser is cancelled is there something else going on? Then obviously immediately speculation starts going all over the place in 2024 with social media and all that stuff.

“I just kept resting on the fact that I can only control what I can control. I have been doing that now for a year and a half with this whole fight if you’ve been following it with all the different dates that have gone on and were supposed to happen but didn’t.

“Now here we are fighting in June of 2024, and it’s a case of ‘if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans’, right? This isn’t about me, I ain’t in control so we’re just going to roll with it.”