In a post to his social-media accounts on Saturday, Conor ‘The Notorious’ McGregor made his first public comments since withdrawing from his UFC 303 main event showdown vs. Michael Chandler.

“Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout. I picked up an injury prior to the press conference that required more time to heal than was available to me. The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team. My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!”

MMA insider Ariel Helwani reported earlier this week that there’s optimism that McGregor-Chandler will get re-booked in the fall, but that remains to be seen.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) hasn’t graced the Octagon since breaking his leg in a first-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July of 2021. He hasn’t won a fight since defeating Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone via first-round KO (head kick and punches) in just 40 seconds at UFC 246 in January of 2020.

Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and McGregor were opposing coaches on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter that started filming in February of 2023. Chandler hasn’t competed since losing to Poirier by third-round submission at UFC 281 in November of 2022.

In response to McGregor’s statement on Twitter yesterday, Chandler replied, “No hard feelings. Heal up. My heart is full. See you soon.”

Chandler also had another post on Saturday that said, “I’m here, just as in 2009 when I started. The most reliable man in MMA. See you when I see you.”

With the McGregor-Chandler scrap cancelled, the promotion created three new short-notice fights for the UFC 303 show on June 29. I reported on those matchups and the fresh odds for each in this article earlier in the week.