Conor McGregor plunges UFC 303 comeback into further doubt, as Irishman shares old video discussing injuries in cryptic post on now-deleted Instagram story

Conor McGregor has heightened fears that his highly-anticipated fight with Michael Chandler will not be taking place as scheduled on June 30.

McGregor and Chandler are booked to face each other in the main event of UFC 303 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a bout that has had over a year of build up.

However, the fight has been thrown into doubt in recent weeks with a first press conference cancelled, very little promotion and reports that the UFC have been looking at alternatives for the pay-per-view's headliner.

And McGregor increased those doubts with a cryptic post on social media which he has now deleted.

McGregor, who has not fought since suffering a horrific leg break in his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier back in the summer 2021, shared an old video of himself talking about injuries.

'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.'

The Notorious accompanied the post with a 'pensive' and 'praying' emoji, hinting that an injury could be getting in the way of the fight.  

Award-winning MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday that McGregor's return fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 is 'very much in limbo.'

'I continue to check in and be a pest and be annoying,' Helwani said of his coverage of the events. 'I found out, via multiple sources, that they are reaching out to people again. They are reaching out to managers. They are reaching out to fighters.'

'I would say this fight is very much in limbo,' Helwani continued. 'I would say that it's hanging on. And I would say that the UFC is working very, very hard right now to figure out a plan b.'

On Tuesday, Helwani posted a tweet providing an update from his sources. He wrote that after pausing feelers and replacement searches, the UFC has resumed the backup quest.

'As I reported yesterday - as potential replacements, i.e. a new fight, as backups, as someone stepping in for McGregor, or as insurance. Just in case, all these things are at play.'

The doubt toward the highly-anticipated fight began when a June 1 press conference in Dublin got postponed in the 11th hour.

After the presser was called off, McGregor apologized to the fans and cited the cancelation was due to a 'series of obstacles out of our control.'

The events that transpired from that point worried fans as it appeared the build-up was sprinting towards a wall of disappointment.

The UFC paused advertising UFC 303 on pay-per-view and archived the free Conor McGregor fights posted to promote the event. McGregor and UFC chief Dana White remained quiet through the period, while Chandler hinted through an Instagram post that he had left training camp and went home to Nashville.

'If you're looking for me, I'll be out in Tennessee. No way out of the life we chose,' Chandler wrote. 'Walk On. See you at the top!'

Additionally, the UFC reportedly sent out feelers and looked for potential replacements, gearing for a worst-case scenario.

However, fans saw a ray of light when the campaign for the fight resumed. On June 8, the UFC posted an official promo for the UFC 303 main event across their YouTube and social media platforms.

Exactly one week after reporting that the fight is 'all systems a go,' Helwani followed up with worrying news and noted how quiet McGregor and Dana White have been about the situation.

'I know there's a lot of anxiety, a lot of doubt, a lot of concern about this. Cause it's such a big fight,' Helwani said. 'And because no one involved, in particular, the UFC side and from the McGregor camp are speaking about this publicly.'

'Chandler did the one interview, and that was it. And I think that squashed some concern. But no one is coming out and really talking about this.'

'One step further, here we are, Wednesday, 1:13 [pm], the positivity I talked about exactly one week ago today is nowhere to be found.'