Michael Chandler has hinted his UFC 303 showdown against Conor McGregor is off by leaving his training camp.
McGregor is still scheduled to return to the Octagon on 29 June after a three-year absence from the cage – breaking his leg in his last fight against Dustin Poirier.
But concerns over that fight taking place have emerged this week. McGregor and Chandler were set to meet at a press conference in Dublin on Monday evening – only for it to be cancelled just 10 hours before its scheduled start time.
UFC did not provide any reason for the cancellation with McGregor tweeting on Tuesday it was due to ‘obstacles outside of our control.’
Chandler meanwhile was informed the press conference was no longer taking place on Sunday, not making the journey to the Irish capital.
Worries the fight will be scrapped have grown throughout the week with ESPN, the UFC’s official broadcast partner in the US, removing advertising for UFC 303 from their website.
Chandler has now also indicated something major has developed. The American trains in South Florida but appeared to conform on Instagram he has now flown back home to Tennessee.
He wrote in the since-deleted post: ‘If you’re looking for me, I’ll be out in Tennessee. No way out of the life we chose.’
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani meanwhile claims that while the fight is still currently scheduled to go ahead, UFC have begun considering replacement fighters or an entirely new fight to headline the card later this month in Las Vegas.
McGregor’s last update meanwhile offered no real clarity on the situation, apologising to Irish fans after this week’s press conference was cancelled.
‘In consultation with the UFC, today’s press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control.
‘I apologise to my Irish fans and fans around the world for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon.’
MORE : Trump gains 3,500,000 TikTok followers in 24 hours – six times as many as Biden