DANA WHITE: CONOR MCGREGOR- MICHAEL CHANDLER 300 UFC FIGHT OFF

McGregor and Chandler will face off June 29. [+]
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 Conor McGregor will no longer fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White said Thursday night.

McGregor (22-6) was scheduled to headline the event but has withdrawn because of injury. It's the first time in McGregor's storied UFC career he's pulled out of a fight for any reason.

The new main event is a light heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Jiří Procházka, according to White.

White also announced two more new fights to the card: Diego Lopes will face Brian Ortega in the co-main event and Carlos Ulberg will now fight Anthony Smith in a light heavyweight bout after Jamahal Hill, who was slated to fight in the co-main event, is out due to injury.

According to White, the sellout event was on pace to set a record for the UFC, with a live gate of more than $20 million. The UFC has not announced whether the nontitle welterweight bout between McGregor and Chandler will be rescheduled.

McGregor, 35, was set to return to competition for the first time since he suffered a broken leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. The former featherweight and lightweight champion has only fought four times since a blockbuster boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017.

McGregor is 1-3 in those appearances, with two losses to Poirier and a submission defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a 2018 title fight.

The June fight being called off is a disappointing chapter in what's become something of a saga between McGregor and Chandler. Chandler, a former champion in Bellator MMA, first called out McGregor in earnest in 2022. The UFC announced the two would coach against each other on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series in early 2023, which went ahead as scheduled that spring. A fight date did not come together until early this year, however, for various reasons.

The UFC's former drug testing partner, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), claimed McGregor's situation led to the dissolution of its UFC program, as the promotion wanted to grant McGregor an exemption of a six-month testing requirement following his leg injury. UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell denied that assertion and demanded a public apology.

The UFC has since partnered with several other agencies to run its drug program.

McGregor, of Ireland, promised via a tweet that his return to the Octagon this year would be the start of the "Greatest Comeback in Sports History." The UFC scheduled a public news conference with McGregor and Chandler on June 3 at 3Arena in Dublin, but canceled the event just 12 hours before doors were to open, which prompted speculation on the status of the fight.

Chandler, 38, has not fought since a back-and-forth loss to Poirier at UFC 281 in November 2022. He has only expressed a passing interest in potential bouts against Nate Diaz, who is currently not signed to the UFC, or BMF titleholder Max Holloway.

- Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer

WADA CRITICISES U.S. UNDERMINING ANTI-DOPING EFFORTS

 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continued to vigorously defend its handling of a drugs case involving 23 Chinese swimmers on Friday while taking direct aim at the United States for trying to undermine the global anti-doping effort.

Following a New York Times report last month detailing events that led to Chinese swimmers avoiding sanctions after testing positive for a banned substance weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, WADA has been fending off criticism and accusations of a cover-up.

But during an extraordinary virtual meeting of its Foundation Board on Friday, WADA blasted its most vocal critic, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the organisation's chief Travis Tygart as hypocrites.

Canadian Dick Pound, who established WADA in 1999, came to his organisation's defence, accusing Tygart of lies and distortions and suggesting USADA's claims were politically motivated.

"On behalf of WADA, I am deeply disappointed and disgusted by the deliberate, lies and distortions coming from USADA, including that WADA has swept doping cases in China under the rug," said Pound, a former IOC member.

"That accusation, bereft of any truth, has but a single purpose to deliberately damage the reputation of WADA.

"To claim that WADA has in some way inappropriately favoured China is completely false," Pound added.

"USADA is financed by the United States government, that government currently has a chilly relationship with China's government. Could there be a connection?"

WADA has stood firm against criticism, arguing that it followed rules and procedures laid out in the anti-doping code and had no evidence to challenge China's findings.

The swimmers avoided sanctions after an investigation by Chinese authorities ruled the positive tests were the result of being inadvertently exposed to the drug through contamination.

A report determined all the swimmers who tested positive were staying at the same hotel where traces of trimetazidine (TMZ), which is found in heart medication, were discovered in the kitchen.

INDEPENDENT REVIEW 

WADA announced in April that it would launch an independent review of the matter led by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier.

"Trust comes from truth and transparency, not obfuscation and childish bluster." said Tygart, responding to WADA's comments.

"Unfortunately, we all know that when you are afraid of the facts, the classic response is to attack the messenger, distract from the real issues, and make it personal."

Tygart said the meeting today demonstrated that the global anti-doping system needed immediate reform.

"The world has legitimate questions about how WADA could turn a blind eye to 23 positive tests on the eve of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and today WADA reinforced those concerns by admitting they purposefully tried to keep this information from going public — the very definition of sweeping it under the carpet," he said.

WADA President Witold Banka said that when it comes to anti-doping, U.S. athletes are some of the least tested in the world and that USADA has used the contamination explanation to clear Americans of positive tests.

"There have been a number of environmental contamination cases in the past, in fact, some of the most elaborate and surprising contamination scenarios have come out of the U.S.," Banka said.

"Just to paint a picture of some inconsistent rule implementation in the U.S. 90% of American athletes, those in the professional leagues and college sport do not compete under the world anti-doping code."

UFC 200: BINGWA WA ZAMAMI WA LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT JON JONAS AFUTWA PAMBANO LA JUMAMOSI

Jon Jonas bingwa wa zamani wa uzito wa light heavyweight katika ngumi za UFC amefutwa katika pambano ambalo angepigana Jumamosi...Jones ilikuwa azichape na bingwa wa sasa wa light heavyweight Daniel Cormier...Kisa cha jinalake kutolewa ni kwamba alikuwatwa na madawa ya kuongeza nguvu mwilini na United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)...Jones anaweza kupinga lakini muda umekwisha kwa sasa labda badae...Uamuzi huo ulitangazwa Jumatano ndani ya MGM Grand na uongozi wa UFC...Bofya hapa uapte habari zaidi.