‘It’s The Business, Man’

Dana White may not have enjoyed reshuffling UFC 303 following an unknown injury to Conor McGregor, but the UFC CEO sees it as just part of the business.

UFC 303 was expected to be the promotion’s biggest event of 2024. Despite a three-year layoff due to injury and Hollywood crossovers, McGregor still remains the biggest draw in combat sports. His return against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas for UFC’s International Fight Week was supposed to produced epic results, but an unfortunate injury to McGregor spoiled all those plans in an instance.

White, alongside infamous matchmaker Hunter Campbell, needed to pivot and pivot fast. It may have taken a little longer than expected to find a replacement fight good enough to soften the blow of a McGregor fight cancelation, but the promotion pulled off a massive move and booked Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka 2 as UFC 303’s new main event. It’s a huge fight in such a tight window, making this one of the best saves UFC has ever pulled off.

While White and company are sure to miss a $20 million gate, UFC 303 must go on. After all of his recent dealings and trying to navigate McGregor’s first-ever UFC withdrawal, White remains adamant that it’s all part of the game. The UFC CEO also intends to stay quiet about McGregor’s injury until he is heeled, but we’ll see if that stays true.

“It’s the business, man,” said White in a recent interview with Sports Business Journal. “This is the way it goes. And from here on I’m not going to talk about it until when he’s healed and he’s right. Then we’ll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out.”

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