LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 13: (L-R) Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler shake hands during the ... [+]
One of the big announcements UFC CEO Dana White made during the UFC 300 post-fight press conference was that former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor would return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.
UFC 303 will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 29. It is the centerpiece of this year's edition of the UFC's International Fight Week. The McGregor vs. Chandler matchup will be contested at 170 pounds. The bout is expected to serve as the main event of the pay-per-view card.
The 35-year-old McGregor has not fought since he broke his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 264 in July 2021. McGregor underwent surgery to repair the damage to that limb.
McGregor is 22-6 in his career. Over his past four fights, dating back to October 2018, he is 1-3 with two TKO losses to Dustin Poirier and a submission setback to then-UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor's one win during that stretch was a January 2020 TKO victory over Donald Cerrone at welterweight.
The 37-year-old Chandler has a career record of 23-8. His last fight took place in November 2022. He lost to Dustin Poirier via submission in that outing. He is also 1-3 in his past four UFC bouts. In addition to the loss to Poirier, Justin Gaethje beat Chandler by decision, and Charles Oliveira defeated him via TKO. Chandler's win during that stretch was a May 2022 knockout of Tony Ferguson.
McGregor has been angling for a return to action for quite some time, but White's stance was that he did not want to book McGregor while he had obligations related to his role in the recent "Roadhouse" film remake. With those tasks out of the way, the UFC has scheduled McGregor vs. Chandler.
The UFC recently added two more fights to the UFC 303 card.
In a middleweight scrap, Joe Pyfer faces Marc-Andre Barriault. Pyfer (12-3) is coming off a February unanimous decision loss to Jack Hermansson. That loss ended his five-fight winning streak. Barriault (16-7-0-1) saw his two-fight winning streak end in January when he dropped a split decision to Chris Curtis.
The other fight announced for UFC 303 is a women’s strawweight scrap. In that contest, Michelle Waterson-Gomez (18-12), who is the No. 14 fighter in the official UFC rankings, faces No. 15 ranked Gillian Robertson.
Waterson-Gomez is on a four-fight losing skid. Her most recent outing was a September TKO setback to Marina Rodriguez. Robertson, who is 3-1 in her past four bouts, is coming off a January TKO win over Polyana Viana.
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