Dana White, UFC owe fans an explanation over how Conor McGregor’s status for UFC 303 was handled

What a long and strange trip it was for International Fight Week, Conor McGregor’s never-ending return and the two-week fire drill that was the attempt to save UFC 303.

For a promotion that has used its recent Roku documentary series, “Inside the UFC,” as a public victory lap around its ability to handle the last-minute stress of matchmaking and cancellations, UFC bosses can certainly pat themselves on the back. behind his back, once again, about how he turned lemons into lemonade, replacing both the UFC 303 main and co-main fight – along with making amends for next week’s main fight for his debut in Saudi Arabia after Khamzat Chimaev fell ill – while the rest of the MMA world was left in the dark about what the truth really was.

Now, nearly two weeks after McGregor’s press conference with Michael Chandler in Dublin, Ireland, was canceled at 11am with no explanation in terms of why, what we seem to think we know is that an unspecified injury suffered just days before McGregor’s event was what led to his ultimate withdrawal, with hopes that the fight, which would mark the return of UFC’s biggest star in history for the first time since 2021, will be rescheduled in the fall.

The UFC, however, has yet to comment on the injury, what part of McGregor’s body it affected, or if any of the knee-jerk conspiracy theories being floated – including the debate over whether this was actually a contract dispute rather than an injury , which wasn’t able to save the summer’s biggest blockbuster from promotion – might actually be true.

Business as usual for the UFC in 2024 includes not just an aversion to the media on the part of CEO Dana White, but an admitted hatred of those whose job it is to report on the day-to-day developments of the company’s business. But the UFC’s unprecedented silence over the past two weeks as fans who helped pay exorbitant ticket prices to help make UFC 303 the biggest gate in the company’s history waited anxiously to see if their non-refundable airline tickets and hotel stays could be headed for disaster, it seemed like a new low in local league behavior for a brand whose behavior doesn’t live up to its boast of making MMA a “Big 4” sport in the eyes of the general public.

And if you’re wondering, just two months after the UFC barely managed to salvage a main event for its historic UFC 300 card, calling on two-division champion Alex Pereira to save the day at the last minute, whether a pattern is developing here, you wouldn’t be far away.

White and company once again went to the bullpen to ask Pereira to save UFC 303, as he prepares to defend his 205-pound title in a rematch with former champion Jiri Prochazka. The featherweight clash between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes will also replace the co-main event after Jamahal Hill, who helped save UFC 300 by fighting Pereira, withdrew due to injury after his original opponent, Khail Rountree Jr. ., had already done the same. .

As successful as the UFC has become, setting record financial numbers year after year, annually, why has it become so difficult for it to keep the pipeline of superstar, main event fighters fresh and ready? And why has the promotion been so cryptic and clandestine in its own dissemination of information that affects not only the MMA news cycle, but the travel plans of its paying audience?

Crisis management has become the new norm for the UFC. But the recent series of intertwining snafus has exposed some curious questions with the current state of the brand that few are debating amid the scheduled discourse on less pertinent topics, like whether it’s too late for McGregor to regain his old-school magic or whether the cage’s mainstay O Donald Trump’s favorite fighter is actually Colby Covington or Sean Strickland.

The answer to questions regarding star power seems to go hand in hand with the difficulties in keeping announced fights intact despite the inevitable realities of injuries and fluke. The modern UFC vehicle, which has been powered since 2018 by a record-breaking production deal signed with ESPN, is much more of a faceless content production machine than the former star incubator.

This UFC is much more focused on keeping the minimum number of dates to fulfill the deal, which is why White was so brazen in getting the product back on the airwaves in 2020 amid the start of the pandemic. That’s why the UFC going back to its old playbook to hold a press conference in Ireland to promote McGregor-Chandler felt so 2010, when the company relied on breakthrough PPV stars like Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar to reach new corporate heights, it was so invigorating.

If you think the UFC has too many fight cards per year and not enough elite talent to fill the marquee, despite the fact that ticket prices and live gate records seem to increase monthly, you’re probably right. And even though McGregor hasn’t even been active enough this decade to really consider him still an active fighter, the promotion’s move away from its commitment to building crossover stars is catching up with them, creating a myth for the general public of how bad it is – similar to Tiger Woods’ relationship with golf – that the UFC still relies on McGregor to stay afloat.

The McGregor era appears, unfortunately, to be over, regardless of whether he actually returns to fight Chandler later this year. But his curious and still totally inexplicable exit from UFC 303 exposed just how much the UFC needs to refocus its efforts – away from things like power slaps and politically-laced strikes – and focus on actually fueling the monster it worked so hard to create.