The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is coming off the biggest fight card of its history in UFC 300. Fighters like Alex Pereira and Max Holloway rocked the T-Mobile Arena and created some of the most memorable moments in the sport’s history. However, the company is not backing down and is seemingly set to top itself with some of the upcoming PPVs as they have announced Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler for UFC 303.
In the post-fight press conference, Dana White dropped the bombshell. In 2023, it was announced that McGregor and Chandler would coach opposite each other at TUF 31 and they’d follow it up with a fight at a later date. However, a long time went by and fans were losing hope about seeing the bout ever take place. Hence, the announcement from Dana White came as a relief for fight fans.
MYSTIC MAC IS BACK 🔮🇮🇪@TheNotoriousMMA takes on @MikeChandlerMMA at 170lbs! #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/kt3a12qM6x
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
As mentioned previously, the bout will headline UFC 303. The PPV will take place in Las Vegas on June 29 and the fight will take place in the welterweight division. However, the way the bout was announced, left a lot of fans extremely disappointed.
Here are some fan reactions on the matter
Why did we never get Conor vs Chandler announcement for July @ufc @danawhite that’s pathetic and a big marketing fail. #UFC300
— Swole Samuari (@TonzMMA) April 14, 2024
I’m ecstatic abt this but it’s pretty lame that they announced this and the Conor fight tonight instead of letting Alex and Max have their moments. They did the same thing to Ilia with the the 300 main event announcement https://t.co/mNH446993z
— KJ | mark 11:24 (@dobronxlover) April 14, 2024
Casual Conor fight announcement
— Braden (@Brade57) April 14, 2024
Insane this is how they announced it. Conor deserved a big announcement not this crap.
— Oscar (@NotoriousOC23) April 14, 2024
That MVP announcement wasn’t so bad now lol. They did Conor the same way
— Rahshan Hayes (@rahshanh) April 14, 2024
Not having an announcement promo for Conor’s return was an all time fumble by Dana
— Nate 🏴☠️ (@visual_people) April 14, 2024
The fans do have a point as a Conor McGregor fight will potentially trump whatever business UFC 300 has done. So Dana White casually dropping the announcement on a post-fight presser does feel slightly underwhelming.
Not just Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev is also set to return at UFC 302
Conor McGregor is a former UFC lightweight champion. However, in both of his last two lightweight clashes against Dustin Poirier, McGregor seemed like a shell of his former self. But, the current champion Islam Makhachev is in top form and he is set to return at UFC 302. Makhachev last fought against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294 in October 2023.
Recently, Makhachev faced some questions about his activity on social media. So the announcement about his next fight puts that conversation to bed as well. Islam will have his first UFC fight in eight months at UFC 302 on June 1 in Newark, New Jersey. So the question is, who will he face? Dana White confirmed that the Dagestani fighter will go up against Dustin Poirier at the PPV.
BREAKING 🚨@MAKHACHEVMMA vs @DustinPoirier – #UFC302@SStricklandMMA vs @BorrachinhaMMA – #UFC302 @TheNotoriousMMA vs @MikeChandlerMMA – #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/oGbgtoyHho
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
After failing to win the title twice against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira respectively, this might be his third and perhaps the final chance to win the undisputed 155lbs title. In the co-main event of the evening, it will be Sean Strickland vs Paulo Costa in a five-round middleweight bout.
Sean Strickland reveals his pay against Paulo Costa at UFC 302
Sean Strickland last fought against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, where he lost the undisputed middleweight title. Unfortunately for him, Sean failed to retain his title that night and lost to the South African fighter via a split decision. Now, he will have a chance to get back to the winning column against Paulo Costa at UFC 302. Recently, Strickland revealed on his social media account how much the UFC offered to pay for the fight against Costa.
With a 7 week notice, Sean asked the fans to guess how much he was offered to take the fight at UFC 302. One fan guessed it was $200,000 each to show up and win and then $10,000 in fight week bonuses. In response, Strickland added the actual figure was slightly lower. For his UFC 297 bout, he reportedly earned $1,392,000 as per MMA Salaries.
Sean Strickland reveals some details about his offer to fight Paulo Costa at #UFC302 👀💰 pic.twitter.com/ievOj4iz0s
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) April 9, 2024
He bagged a reported $1,082,000 for the UFC 293 title fight against Israel Adesanya. For his last non-championship bout against Abusupiyan Magomedov, Strickland earned an estimated $466,000. However, it included a $50,000 bonus. So his base pay reportedly was $200,000 to show and $16,000 in fight week incentive. While there are no official reports to confirm the figure he will earn for the Costa fight, as per estimation, one can imagine he will earn about the same as he did in the Magomedov bout.