Fans express disappointment over ‘shocking’ McGregor vs Chandler poster for UFC 303

Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler are scheduled to fight on 29 June, headlining in Las Vegas

Alex Pattle
Combat Sports Correspondent
Friday 10 May 2024 10:04 EDT
Comments
Conor McGregor announces UFC return

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The UFC 303 poster has been unveiled ahead of Conor McGregor’s comeback fight with Michael Chandler, but fans have expressed disappointment over the design.

On 29 June, McGregor and Chandler will headline UFC 303 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, meeting in a five-round welterweight bout.

The fight will be McGregor’s first since July 2021, when the former dual-weight champion broke his leg in a second straight loss to Dustin Poirier. Six months prior, Poirier knocked out the Irishman.

Chandler’s most recent fight also came against Poirier, who submitted his fellow American in November 2022.

The UFC released the McGregor vs Chandler poster on Thursday (9 May), with one fan tweeting in response: “This poster is just shocking. And not in a good way.”

“Why does Chandler look like Bisping?” another wrote, as one of many users to suggest a similarity in appearance between Chandler and UFC legend Michael Bisping.

“UFC really phoning it in with the posters,” tweeted one fan, while another said: “Put some flavor in the posters goddamn.”

Chandler, a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, has not fought at welterweight since 2010. The 38-year-old has fought almost exclusively at lightweight as a professional.

Meanwhile, McGregor is a former featherweight and lightweight champion, but the 35-year-old has fought at welterweight three times in the UFC. “Notorious” traded wins with Nate Diaz at 170lbs in 2016 and beat Donald Cerrone in the division in 2020.

Diaz submitted McGregor in their first clash, before the Irishman outpointed the American in their rematch. McGregor’s victory over Cerrone, also American, came via TKO after just 40 seconds.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in