Alex Volkanovski speaks out on 'whispers' he's heard about Conor McGregor fight after UFC 303 event cancelled

Alex Volkanovski has spoken out about UFC 303 after UFC "postponed until further notice" Monday's news conference featuring Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler in Dublin.

McGregor is scheduled to fight Chandler at UFC 303 on 29 June in Las Vegas, with the pair due to face the media at the 3Arena.

While no explanation was given, McGregor said in a statement on X: "In consultation with the UFC, today's press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control.

"I apologise to my Irish fans, and fans around the world, for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the octagon."

The UFC announced the fight on May 24 and tickets sold out in fewer than 10 minutes, with former featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor competing for the first time in three years.

But beyond the cancelled press conference, on Thursday ESPN’s pay-per-view link for UFC 303 appeared to have been taken down while the UFC removed its recently published YouTube videos of past McGregor fights.

Amid online speculation as to whether the fight will take place, fellow fighter Volkanovski has now said he’s "always keen to throw his hand up" in regards to stepping in on short notice for McGregor.

He said: "You're hearing all these whispers, what's going on with Conor McGregor and whatnot. Maybe they need a late notice replacement again, so I'm always keen to throw my hand up."

McGregor has not fought in around three years (Getty)

Elsewhere, on the cancelled press conference Chandler’s Irish teammate Paul Hughes told Severe MMA on Tuesday: “I saw him on Monday morning and was like, ‘Are you not supposed to be in Ireland?’ But he didn’t really know what was going on. Just [that the press conference] was cancelled, and that was it. He was back in the gym.

“What do you do? It looks like it was the McGregor camp... It was the McGregor camp that cancelled it – that’s obvious, everybody knows that. But I have no idea why.”

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