Conor McGregor - Michael Chandler Fight Fate Up In Air As ESPN Appears To Pull Some Ads
ESPN appears to have pulled some ads and promotions related to the highly anticipated return of Conor McGregor at UFC 303 as the Notorious One was scheduled to fight Michael Chandler on June 29th.
When one goes to ESPN+ and their UFC channel or on many of the ESPN entities, it appears some of the mentions and promo photos and videos for the McGregor-Chandler main event are no longer there, according to ESPN MMA reporter Ian Parker.
ESPN didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment on if there were any changes and what led to them.
ESPN is still promoting the UFC 303 PPV, although there were reports of error messages for those trying to preorder the fight earlier today. OutKick has not been able to confirm the outages.
The peculiar ad removal comes after an absolutely chaotic and secretive 36 hours within the UFC and both fighters' camps after the midnight cancelation of Monday's Dublin press conference - just 12 hours before it was scheduled to take place.
Anyone who knows anything about the media and live sporting events - especially ones that have to deal with an international star like Conor McGregor knows that these types of decisions by ESPN to pull promotional ads and more just don't "happen" out of nowhere if indeed true.
Hours after the UFC 303 press conference was canceled, McGregor released a statement saying that it was due to "a series of obstacles ut of our control." He added that it was canceled in consultation with the UFC and that he couldn't wait to "put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon."
Is McGregor - Chandler Even Going To Happen?
As with all things these days, it's important to break down what we know and what we don't know - something the echo chambers on social media never do.
After UFC 302 on Saturday night in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Dana White was asked a question about Conor's alleged partying lifestyle that has been making the rounds across socials. Dana responded that Conor really wanted to fight and that he's not an idiot, but did add at the end that he was flying to Dublin in just a couple of hours and was going to speak with Conor.
The big question is - did Dana end up flying and if so, what the heck went down that the presser and now the apparent ESPN ad-pull all happened in less than a day?
Did Conor do something? Is it a venue situation? Is someone injured? Did Conor test positive for PED's or other drugs - afterall, he purposely refused to get drug tested by USADA - the anti-doping agency of the UFC before being reinstated earlier this year. Meanwhile, opponent Michael Chandler has been posting self-help quotes and Instagram stories as if he's reading something from a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.
For someone like Dana White, who we love here at OutKick because he is so outspoken, to suddenly go silent is so unusual that many assume the worst.
They might be right.
After all, unfortunately, we have seen this before with Conor McGregor and his antics, and although we need to learn more details about what is happening and if this fight is officially not happening - which once again, is not confirmed.
And if so, what does that mean for the future of Conor McGregor? Something both myself and Charly Arnolt talked about this morning on OutKick The Morning. (Watch below)
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WILL UFC 303 HAPPEN WITH CONOR MCGREGOR FIGHTING? TWEET ME: @TheGunzShow