The Roar
The Roar

Combat
Advertisement

Conor McGregor announces retirement, pulled from UFC 200
The Roar
19th April, 2016
15
Join the conversation
1041 Reads
Advertisement
Write for The Roar

Anyone can contribute to The Roar and have their work featured alongside some of Australia’s most prominent sports journalists.

Conor McGregor is a true larrikin and character in an age of boring sportsmen. (Andrius Petrucenia/ Flickr)
The Roar
19th April, 2016
15
1041 Reads

Conor McGregor has shocked UFC fans across the globe, announcing his decision to retire from the sport at just 27 years of age.

The Irish mixed martial arts superstar, who is one of the most popular faces in the sport, took to social media network Twitter to break the news, simply stating: “I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya’s later.”

Amid the immediate speculation that McGregor was misleading fans, his current coach John Kavanagh also took to Twitter to throw his weight behind the announcement, Tweeting: “Well was fun while it lasted.”

McGregor was expected to feature in a rematch against rival fighter Nate Diaz at UFC 200 on July 6, however, it has now been confirmed that the Irishman has been pulled from the fight.

Advertisement

UFC commentator Joe Rogan refused to believe the hype at first, saying McGregor was likely “trolling”.

“He’s decided to retire young which means like 34. Unless he got f**king head-kicked today and knocked into oblivion, the idea that he’s going to go out on a loss like that to Nate Diaz.

“He’s got plenty of cash! If he wanted to retire young and step away… I guarantee you he probably made somewhere in the neighbourhood of $5 million for the Jose Aldo fight. He probably made more than that for the Nate Diaz fight, I would imagine, after he spent a f**k-load of it, he’s probably still got a few million bucks laying around.

“He’s a hero in Ireland, he could always make money. He could always run a gym and be fine but if I had to guess, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Interestingly, less than 24 hours before McGregor decided to announce his retirement, he posted the below photo to his official Facebook account, all smiles as he trained for the July bout.

Advertisement

Accoring to UFC president, Dana White, McGregor was pulled because he was training in Iceland and refused to attend promotional training events in Las Vegas.

“He felt leaving right now would hurt his training. But every other fighter on the card is coming,” White told ESPN.

“It doesn’t make you exempt. We spend a lot of money on this stuff.”

The commentary surrounding the retirement remains scepticle, with some speculating McGregor’s decision to walk away from the UFC is also driven by a pay dispute, and that if resolved would see his retirement quickly end.

However, it is important to also consider that the decision may have been impacted by the recent death of mixed martial arts fighter Joao Carvalho during a bout in Dublin at which McGregor was present.

McGregor was quoted following Carvalho’s passing as being “truly heartbroken” and posted a heartfelt statement on his Facebook page.

Advertisement

The man McGregor was set to face in July, and who defeated him in March at UFC 196, couldn’t resist a quick response to the news that his next opponent was stepping away from the sport.

Nate Diaz wasn’t the only person getting in on the act, with CM Punk, yet to step into the Octagon at a major UFC event, saying he’d retire old.

15
Join the conversation

Let’s get ready to rumble!  Pick a fighter and place your bets with PlayUp for great odds.  Chances are you’re about to lose.  Set a deposit limit.

Related Posts

close