Michael Chandler will not have the opportunity to beat Conor McGregor at UFC 303 this weekend, but he will soon be able to take the Irishman out in the Hitman: World of Assassination video game.
On Thursday, Danish video game developer IO Interactive announced that McGregor will star as an MMA fighter called "The Disruptor" in new downloadable content for the popular assassination video game.
The player's job will be to take The Disruptor out before he embarrasses a wealthy CEO in the ring.
"Welcome to the season of the Disruptor," a news release from IO Interactive said (via MMA Mania). "Global superstar Conor McGregor is joining the World of Assassination, starring as the Disruptor in a brand-new celebrity elusive target.
"You are tasked with traveling to the Isle of Sgàil to protect Quantum Leap CEO Tim Quinn from a humiliating defeat in the ring at the hands of the Disruptor. This mission will be free to play for everyone through the free starter pack.”
The disruptor mission will be available from June 27 to June 29 — the night McGregor was supposed to fight Chandler at UFC 303.
It was an injured toe that forced the Irish star out of his fight, which would have been his first since a disastrous loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021.
That was his second loss in a row to Poirier, and it left him with a broken leg that kept him out of action until he signed on to fight Chandler.
McGregor and his team have suggested he could be able to fight again by September, but UFC CEO Dana White doesn't seem ready to commit to a date for the Irish star's long awaited return to the Octagon.
“I don’t know [about McGregor] right now,” the UFC boss said at last weekend's UFC Saudi Arabia post-fight press conference. “Our schedule is laid out. We’ll see. I’m not doing anything until I know that Conor is healthy. It’s not even worth talking about."
The future for Chandler, meanwhile, is murky, but the former Bellator champion says he still intends to attend UFC 303 — even if he's not fighting. Perhaps he'll reconsider when he learns he can take out his frustrations against McGregor on his PlayStation.
