Conor McGregor breaks his silence after pulling out of UFC 303 return against Michael Chandler: ‘I’ll be back’ | HO

Conor McGregor has spoken out after his long-awaited UFC return against Michael Chandler was postponed this week due to injury.

The Irishman was scheduled to finally take on Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in Las Vegas on June 29, only for his latest setback to put the fight on hold once again.

Just over two weeks before the event, Dana White announced Thursday that McGregor has been forced to pull out after suffering an injury which reportedly left him contemplating retirement.

‘But ultimately,’ a source told Dailymail.com, ‘having to withdraw has lit a spectacular fire under his a** and he is more determined than ever to fight again this year and to reschedule his match with Chandler this fall.’

After withdrawing from the fight this week, McGregor has echoed that sentiment in a statement on social media.

Conor McGregor has spoken out after his UFC return was postponed following his latest injury

McGregor was forced to pull out of his fight against Michael Chandler on June 29 due to injury

‘Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout,’ he said in an Instagram post on Saturday.

‘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!’

McGregor has been slated to fight Chandler for well over a year, with the pair initially going head to head as coaches on the 2023 instalment of The Ultimate Fighter.

White’s plan was for the two men to conclude that season by fighting each other, only for McGregor’s return to the Octagon to be delayed until 2024 when he failed to enter anti-doping agency USADA’s testing pool in time.

The former two-weight UFC champion has not competed in close to three years, with his last outing against Dustin Poirier ending in gruesome fashion when he broke his leg in the first round.

He has been working his way back to full fitness and sharpness ever since, though his latest pullout has left fans concerned that he will never fight again.

The Irishman admits it was ‘very tough’ to cancel the bout while promising he will be back

He has not fought since breaking his leg during a 2021 trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier

Before Dana White’s announcement, McGregor shared an old video of himself talking about injuries on Instagram

After confirming his star attraction is out of this month’s show in Vegas, the UFC chief provided no further information on the nature of McGregor’s injury.

‘Alright guys, here I am again… Conor McGregor is out of 303 vs Michael Chandler with an injury,’ White said in a video message before going on to reveal the status of the new card.

Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka are now headlining the event, coming as a huge blow to McGregor’s legions of fans who had planned a trip to Sin City in two weeks’ time.

McGregor’s proposed return after three years out was already in major doubt after he recently pulled out of a press conference at short notice.

The 35-year-old was also spotted partying on a wild night out in Dublin a month out from the fight, raising concerns that he would not be ready in time to face Chandler.

In one video which surfaced online he could be seen dancing with a group of men and pointing at the camera with his tongue out.

During the footage, McGregor – who is engaged to fiancée Dee Devlin – showed off an expensive timepiece on his left wrist before the camera panned to him using his tattooed hand to try and open a woman’s dress and touch her chest.

He sparked fears about the fight when he was spotted partying at his Dublin bar last month

The former UFC champion could be seen dancing and kissing fiancee Dee on the night out

McGregor appeared to pull open a woman’s blouse and try to touch her chest while partying

The unidentified woman quickly grabbed her leopard print dress to avoid being exposed, before batting away his hand as the video then abruptly ended.

Before White’s announcement, McGregor had teased his injury news online with a cryptic post on social media – which he then deleted.

The UFC legend shared an old video of himself talking about injuries, in which he says: ‘I think the more resistance you train with, the less movement and the more injury,’ he says in the clip.

‘But the less resistance you train with, the more movement and the less injury.’

He accompanied the post with a ‘pensive’ and ‘praying’ emoji, hinting that an injury could be getting in the way of the fight.