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Our month long fears have now come true. Conor McGregor has pulled out of UFC 303 due to an "undisclosed injury". For some, it was expected. For many, it leaves nothing but disappointment. The return of the Mac is shelved again, hopefully an early fall reschedule is the move, but for now we revert back to "what if" in regards to a McGregor reunion inside the Octagon. Hunter Campbell and Dana White rushed to the big board for a change of plans with just two weeks remaining until the start of the 303 event, and in the midst of crappy media outlets and reporters breathing down their necks looking for a way in to secure maximum exposure. Oh... they also got slapped with Khamzat Chimaev pulling out of his bout against Rob Whittaker in Saudi Arabia... the main-event bout for the Saturday event prior to UFC 303!
A big twister sure shook up the UFC offices to spark a nasty fire with the two mammoth pull outs, each happening in short order. Dana and Hunter were somehow able to pull off more stellar execution in quick response to put out the fire and limit the damage. Hats off to them. I am utterly excited to see the ROKU Series clips of Hunter's heroic response in live action. I have even more respect for them pulling the changes off while having that gnat Ariel Helwani spinnin' his journalist bullsh** in the skies above. Hey Ariel, glad you were right bubba. Good for you! You got your little pat on the back, how cute (that's sarcasm). What a loser journalist; not allowing the UFC to make their own announcement after their team spent the time and resources to save the fight-cards. There is a reason why Dana White can't stand the gnat. Sorry a** journalism. Hunter and Dana did their dance; making the 303 card possibly a bit better in full hindsight with these three changes now confirmed:
Dana also announced that Ikram Aliskerov has replaced the ill Chimaev to take on the Reaper in Saudi Arabia. Solid replacement there on short notice to allow Whittaker to get his bread. The three changes to 303 are real-real solid. Brian Ortega taking on the rising Diego Lopes is a kickass matchup for fight fans. Pure noise in that booking. Solid on short notice, but getting Pereira to defend his throne in the rematch against Procházka is NUTS on short notice, yo. The first clash was as advertised, and ended in stunning fashion. This was the best possible replacement to make- one that many outside of the UFC circle would not have thought was possible for 303. What excellent work. Again, I can't wait to see the live action scenes of this thing going down. What a banger of a replacement fight. This second fight should be an even better watch. Procházka is a worker. He's an avenger. That dude starves for that belt back. The fight may be short notice, but for Procházka it will be over seven months in the waiting. Seven months of training and meditating. Seven months of thinking about revenge. Jiří has already had an epic knockout since that defeat. Only two months ago... but so has Pereira.
Both warriors earned knockout wins on April 13th at UFC 300. Now they each make a two-month flip to run back one of last year's most anticipated fights. The best note of 'em all: Pereira and Procházka, together, have now saved two UFC PPVs by replacing a Jon Jones main-event (UFC 295) and now a Conor McGregor main-event. Talk about company pillars (and Kevin Holland of course)! They swoop in to save the day after the two biggest stars in the sport are forced to pull-out. Talk about taking advantage. I love it.
The added co-main event of Ortega/Lopes is better than the original matchup of Hill/Ulberg. T-City is coming off that money, come-from-behind subby of Yair Rodríguez, and Lopes is coming off his thunderous knockout at 300; joining AP and Jiří on having a 2-month flip after competing at 300. The new co-main should bring us fast-n-furious noise. I love the matchup; much better compared to the OG. People would be surprised how difficult it is to find replacement suitors for a big-fight spot on short notice. Which is why I adore the UFC/ROKU series; it allows the visuals for people to open their mind on how it works behind the "scenes". The task is no easy feat. I'm quite satisfied with the replacement results. The execution was flawless as well. The new participants having two weeks to prep isn't too bad. They accepted on short notice surely because they are active trainers and/or are at fighting weight. Two weeks to prep is good.
One final shoutout to Hunter Campbell. Making moves! Trying to salvage a previously booked McGregor fight-card won't be easy, but they couldn't have set themselves (and fight fans) up any better. The card isn't too shabby. If you actually like the fight game. Some shiny names on the prelims with finishing ability to rock the noise bar past capacity. MVP is back for more, with a chance to silence Machado-Garry? Feed it to us! Look, it's a bummer and all to have the new-look card, but it's a good new-look. Did we really think Conor was fighting, anyway? Lets be real with it. I'm just happy we have a banger of a replacement. All is good. Well done Hunter, Dana, and Sean. We get to experience this aura-versus-aura duel inside the Octagon once again:
video via ESPN MMA//X
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