Michael Bisping thinks Conor McGregor may never return after pulling out of UFC 303.
An undisclosed injury forced McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) out of his return fight vs. Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) June 29 at T-Mobile Arena, marking the first time McGregor has withdrawn from a fight in the UFC. The bout is expected to be rebooked later in the year.
Bisping heard that McGregor re-injured the same leg he broke in his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021, which has kept him sidelined for years.
âI donât know why I was kind of optimistic that this fight was still going to go ahead,â Bisping said on his YouTube channel. âI should have known, though. I was on a movie set last week and I was working with âBigâ John McCarthy, a man that is an absolute authority on mixed marital arts, and he told me in no uncertain terms this fight is not happening. Heâs injured. Heâs hurt himself. His leg, the leg that he broke, that snapped against Dustin Poirier â his titanium skin bone has failed. Thatâs what âBigâ John said. I thought he was wrong. I thought he was mistaken.â
Bisping says history has shown that fighters do not come back the same after breaking their leg in that manner, pointing to Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman as examples.
âThe big question is, is that it? Will McGregor ever fight again,â Bisping said. âNow of course theyâre going to move Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor to another date down the line. ⌠He hurt himself this time. Whatâs to say he wonât hurt himself next time? Whatâs to say that heâll ever be the same fighter again?
âHim competing against Dustin Poirier, when the leg snapped, might just be the last time that Conor McGregor ever steps foot inside an octagon. Fighters arenât the same. Anderson Silva came back from the leg break â he wasnât the same. Chris Weidman, he wasnât the same. Chris Weidman still has problems now. So it might be the last time.â
Itâs the business, man,â White said. âThis is the way it goes. And from here on Iâm not going to talk about it until when heâs healed and heâs right. Then weâll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out.â
McGregor was to return from a lengthy hiatus, much of which was spent recovering from a broken leg that he suffered in his most recent bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. It is not yet known if McGregorâs withdrawal from UFC 303 is related to any past injuries or if it is a new issue.
Following the news that McGregor and Chandler will not be competing on June 29, UFC quickly announced that the new main event is a rematch between light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka. A featherweight contender bout between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes has also been added to bolster the card, and serve as the new co-main event with Jamahal Hill pulling out of a fight with Carlos Ulberg. (Ulberg remains on the card in a new matchup with veteran Anthony Smith.)
If that wasnât enough chaos for the matchmakers, they also had to find a new opponent for Robert Whittaker, who was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev this Saturday at UFC Saudi Arabia. Chimaev withdrew due to an illness, so lesser-known middleweight contender Ikram Aliskerov was pulled from UFC Vegas 93 this past weekend to take on Whittaker.
Overall, White couldnât be more pleased with how his team has played the cards theyâve been dealt.
âItâs been interesting because we had to switch the Saudi main event, which is next weekend, you know what I mean?â White said. âItâs f****** days away, so for us to put in this guy [Ikram Aliskerov] who is 15-1 [is a good outcome], heâs Muslim and his only loss is to Khamzat Chimaev, and everyone in the division said no to fighting him except Robert Whittaker. ⌠Iâm very happy [with the quality of the replacement fights].â
Heâs got maaaaybe one more shitty performance in him for a cashout. Not much else me thinks.
Plus if he is out injured, he is gonna binge hatd.
Never coming back.
Guyâs a blown load.
Heâs going to be Ric flair 2.0 embarrassing himself in public constantly in his old age.
Chael said heâs in rehab- He should be if weâre being honest.
https://x.com/ChampRDS/status/1802941698844119467?t=4kP57bQb-M0IcWh9k3wNDA&s=19
Conor just posted yesterday he was drinking at his restaurant and shaved his head. I think he pulled out because he probably hasnât been training and lost interest in it. I think he only wants to come back for the crowd reaction to feed his ego.
And lost lots of muscle
Not if he gets blown out in a round against anyone whoâd make a compelling fight at this point.
We are probably looking at the next âfightâ McGregor has being a boxing exhibition against Nate Diaz in three years.
Conor is in his retired Jake Lamotta era