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Let's face it. Things didn't look good for the UFC.
It's not ideal when a pay-per-view main event crumbles after the posters have been hung and the billboards positioned. It's worse when the bout is planned to headline the promotion's annual International Fight Week show in Las Vegas.
It's cataclysmic when the main event is built around Conor McGregor.
After all, the "Notorious" former double-champ has had a long and profitable, if not always successful, run as the company's most recognizable superstar.
Still, somehow, UFC 303 survived.
And who'd have thought?