MMA Superstar Conor McGregor has hung up his gloves in MMA. McGregor posted a tweet announcing his retirement yesterday. McGregor was coming off a knockout win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 on January 18.
Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting.
Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!
Here is a picture of myself and my mother in Las Vegas post one of my World title wins!
Pick the home of your dreams Mags I love you!
Whatever you desire it’s yours ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Dh4ijsZacZ— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 7, 2020
In a statement given to ESPN by McGregor, he explains in detail why he is retiring.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor said. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting to me.
“They should have just kept the ball rolling. I mean, why are they pushing [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje] back to September? You know what’s going to happen in September, something else is going to happen in September, and that’s not going to happen. I laid out a plan and a method that was the right move, the right methods to go with. And they always want to balk at that and not make it happen or just drag it on. Whatever I say, they want to go against it to show some kind of power. They should have just done the fight — me and Justin for the interim title — and just kept the ball rolling.”
This is not the first time McGregor has decided to retire. He famously tweeted on April 19, 2016 “I decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. See ya ‘s later.” This came after McGregor had a disagreement with the UFC that resulted in McGregor not fighting Nate Diaz at UFC 200. The second time McGregor claimed he retired was on March 26, 2019. This happens after a fight negotiations fell through between the UFC and McGregor.
The timing of McGregor’s announcement is interesting as other fighters have called the UFC out for contract issues. Jorge Masvidal criticized the UFC for paying him less money to fight welterweight champion Kamaru Usman then when he fought Nate Diaz. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones claims he’s vacating the championship due to negotiating issues with the UFC. Jones was denied a mega-fight with Francis Ngannou and a pay increase by the UFC. Former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo retired after being denied a pay increase after beating Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 on May 9.
White has held his stance that the pandemic is playing a role in fighters being “Frustrated” with the UFC. In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White said “If Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings on retirement. You should absolutely do it.” McGregor will retire with an MMA record of 22-4.