Rumors have emerged surrounding Conor McGregor's (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) upcoming fight against Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 303, scheduled to take place on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena. With a potential injury on McGregor's side, speculation about his withdrawal from the highly anticipated bout has been circulating.

If these rumors prove to be true and McGregor fails to make an appearance later this month, MMA analyst Chael Sonnen believes it may signal the end of McGregor's fighting career. Sonnen expressed his skepticism on his YouTube channel, stating that any claims of McGregor returning to the sport at a later date or that he and Chandler will square off in the future would be false.

According to Sonnen, "If Conor McGregor doesn't show up for this, I'm here to let you know any idea you have that he's still fighting or he's still in the business or he wasn't feeling good and they're doing it another day, or he and Chandler are going to be somewhere down the road - I'm here to let you know now, if you're told that by anybody, you have been given bad information." Sonnen firmly believes that if McGregor fails to step into the octagon on June 29 to face Chandler at 170 pounds, it would be equivalent to announcing his retirement from the sport.

This potential withdrawal from the UFC 303 fight comes as a surprise since McGregor has never previously withdrawn from a scheduled bout. The Irish fighter had been set to make his much-anticipated return to the UFC after recovering from a leg break sustained during a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

McGregor, who issued an apology for the cancellation of the UFC 303 pre-fight press conference originally slated for June 3 at the Dublin-based 3Arena, has remained relatively quiet on the recent speculation. UFC fans around the world eagerly await confirmation or denial regarding his potential withdrawal from the upcoming event.

As the days tick away towards the scheduled bout, the MMA community watches with bated breath to see whether Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to the octagon or if this unexpected turn of events will indeed mark the end of an era for "The Notorious."