It was no joke when CEO Dana White confirmed the “no rumors” status in April, announcing The Notorious’s first fight since 2021. After years of wait, Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is finally slated for UFC 303 and the former finally has a chance to double his underwhelming record of exactly one victory in the last eight years! It couldn’t be a more timely development for ‘Iron’ as he hasn’t fought in the ring since his defeat against Dustin Poirier in November 2022.

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier stressed McGregor’s importance for the clash that is expected to fetch the promotion a historic $20 million gate, something that would see his older record of setting the company’s all-time record of a $17.7 million gate in UFC 205 in 2016.

Why can’t Dana White lose Conor McGregor for UFC 303?

Charles Oliveira has recently made to the headlines for keeping one condition of “renegotiation” for being a backup fighter for the historic UFC 303 bout. While many were taken aback by Oliveira’s stance, Daniel Cormier believes that there should not be a need for a backup, as Dana White simply can’t afford to lose McGregor, the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously. Considering McGregor’s prediction of recording the highest gate in UFC, DC emphasized the hype for the fight between ‘Iron’ and ‘Mystic Mac’. 

On the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show, ‘DC’ said, “You can’t lose a guy. Right? You can’t lose anybody from this fight. We’ve been waiting for so long. Injuries happen in mixed martial arts. First off, you can’t lose Conor. If Conor is out, the fight is off. Michael Chandler is not fighting anyone else… Because if Conor is out, the UFC is scrambled.”

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The former heavyweight champion further claimed that Oliveira would not be the replacement for Conor McGregor, who is destined to make a return to the Octagon. He then reframed the question that Sonnen had asked. Cormier believes and not McGregor, but the question should be, “Who should be the backup fighter for Michael Chandler?”

Fans should take the idea of a backup fighter to replace McGregor with a grain of salt. In an interview with GQ released on April 10, out of the ten things that he can’t live without, a pair of UFC gloves didn’t skip the list. Apparently, this was before his UFC 303 fight was confirmed, but were these early signs that he wasn’t yet done with his MMA career? McGregor then said, “These gloves, the UFC gloves are so symbolic and, you know, it was a dream come true to put the gloves on with the three letters.

“It would be akin to a young football player or a soccer player putting on a jersey for Manchester United. Or an American football team like the [Dallas] Cowboys. It’s significant that you’ve made it.”

With ‘Do Bronx’ speculated to be the one who would jump into action if things go wrong before the fight, questions have been raised about his eligibility. Oliveira was handed a loss by Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, thus resulting in many deeming him ineligible for the opportunity to fight at UFC 303.

However, Daniel Cormier doesn’t share the same sentiment as he gave pointers on why the 34-year-old is perfect to be the backup fighter.

Daniel Cormier thinks Charles Oliveira is the logical backup

As the show proceeded, Cormier opined, “It seems like Charles [Oliveira] is honestly the logical one to be the backup fighter, but is this dude going to do as the kids say, ‘fumble the bag’?” He backed his words by pointing out that the top lightweight fighters in the UFC were waiting to fight for the belt, and some of them were resting after a fight or on a break.

Despite the fight between McGregor and Chandler being in the welterweight division, Cormier believed McGregor to be primarily a lightweight fighter, even if he fought in the welterweight arena before. Hence, Oliveira seemed the perfect one to enter the Octagon in case one of the fighters had to step back. 

What do you think of DC’s speculation? Do you agree with what he had to say? Do you think things will work out and McGregor vs Chandler will cross the $20 million gate mark? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.