Audie Attar said Conor McGregor pushed hard to rebook Michael Chandler as his comeback opponent, but the UFC decided the matchup "didn't make sense" despite prior promotion around it.
UFC 303 had been set to stage McGregor-Chandler in June 2024 after their stint as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 31, but McGregor's injury scrapped the bout days before the event.
July 11 now has McGregor, 37, headlining UFC 329 against Max Holloway at welterweight, a rematch Attar said made sense at 170 after McGregor's long layoff and because Holloway accepted quickly.
Chandler is instead booked to face Mauricio Ryffy next month at UFC Freedom Fights 250 on the White House lawn, while Attar said a McGregor-Chandler fight could still happen later.
Contract questions still hang over McGregor's return: he has said he had two UFC fights left and later claimed his deal was voided after the promotion's 2026 Paramount rights shift away from pay-per-view.
Will McGregor's contract battle over the UFC's new streaming model forever change how fighters are paid?
Why did the UFC reject a guaranteed blockbuster in McGregor vs. Chandler after years of promotional buildup?
As the biggest underdog of his career, is McGregor's upcoming fight a final shot at glory or the start of a farewell tour?