MICHAEL CHANDLER has sensationally claimed his showdown with Conor McGregor is OFF.
The former three-time Bellator lightweight champion was due to welcome the UFC‘s poster boy back to the octagon in June.
Injury to the Notorious, however, scuppered the joust – which was first announced last February – and seemingly pushed it back to the end of the year.
But Chandler has hinted their long-overdue showdown is now a thing of the past during an explosive X row with the Irishman.
He said: “Never mind guys…I think it’s time I finally admit the fight is off.
“He’s still in stage 2 of the 7 of grief pertaining to his career being over.
“Figured he’d be closer to 5 by now. Godspeed @TheNotoriousMMA.”
McGregor, 36, didn’t waste any time responding to Chandler’s claim, insisting he’d happily replace him with former rival Max Holloway.
He said: “Lol, ok, lil bro, Swapped out handy. @BlessedMMA what you at December?
“The real BMF, you know.”
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With more sides to his personality than an Octagon, Conor McGregor's rise has been an enthralling watch.
Going from UFC icon to entrepreneur and Hollywood star, the Irishman has transcended the sport he helped bring to the masses.
He has four children with fiancee Dee Devlin and the family enjoy a lavish lifestyle.
McGregor has not fought in UFC since breaking his leg in a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in 2021.
That has not stopped him amassing a net worth of over £150m thanks to his Proper No Twelve whiskey and fashion line.
And he is due to return to the Octagon at UFC 303 in an eagerly-awaited headline clash with Michael Chandler.
McGregor also starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the Amazon Prime remake of classic movie Road House, although he is dreading his mum seeing one X-rated scene.
Notorious turned up to the premiere in a £60,000 suit that was outdone by his £460k watch.
The only thing sharper than his fashion sense is his tongue and the Dubliner has several bitter spats under his belt, including with UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov.
That row led to one of his biggest controversies in 2018 as he travelled 3,000 miles to confront Khabib in a vicious attack on his bus.
He pleaded guilty to assault after punching a man in a pub in 2018 and had his £150k Bentley seized by police for driving offences four years later.
Joe Rogan lashed out at McGregor in a four-letter outburst and the Irishman has also fired shots at Jake Paul, KSI and Tommy Fury.
Boxing great Floyd Mayweather also has McGregor on his enemy list after the pair clashed in a cross-sport bout in 2017.
Read all of our latest Conor McGregor stories.
Former two-division champion McGregor hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his left leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier three years ago.
The Irishman‘s comeback clash was Chandler was scuppered by a broken left pinky toe, which he suffered in one of his final training sessions.
It’s understood the UFC brass have earmarked their final pay-per-view of the year – UFC 310 – for the rescheduled Return of the Mac.
And in an exclusive interview with SunSport, McGregor revealed that he likes the sound of closing out the promotion’s PPV calendar.
The UFC’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion told SunSport: “That sounds good to me.
“That sounds good to me brother.”
