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Conor McGregor posted a message to his followers on Twitter stating that he will fight at UFC200. The only problem is, the UFC have said the tweet was inaccurate and Dana White remains adamant the Irish star will not be on the card. So will he fight in three months time?
UFC officials didn’t initially respond to the announcement, despite McGregor saying “shout out to [UFC president] Dana White on getting this one done for the fans” in his tweet. McGregor also mentioned UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta:
Happy to announce that I am BACK on UFC 200!
Shout out to @danawhite and @lorenzofertitta on getting this one done for the fans. #Respect— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) 25 April 2016
White spoke with TMZ Sports after the tweet went viral on Monday morning:
“We haven’t talked to Conor or his manager since the press conference. I don’t know why he would tweet that. All the media keeps asking me that. I feel like the scene in Step Brothers when they ask if they can build the bunk beds. I don’t know how many more times I can say the fight is off or how many more press conferences I can have saying the fight is off for people to believe it’s off.”
McGregor was pulled from the card after refusing to attend a press conference in Las Vegas over the weekend. The event was supposed to be a promotion for his upcoming bout with Nate Diaz, which was to headline with 200th version of the pay-per-view event.
The UFC Featherweight Champion announced his ‘retirement’ in a twitter post last Wednesday after deciding he didn’t want to leave his training camp in Iceland:
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) 19 April 2016
Two days later, McGregor posted a statement on Facebook following the backlash from his fans and the media:
“I am just trying to do my job and fight here. I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote.”
I feel the $400 million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside eight months, is enough to get me this slight leeway.” McGregor said.
White responded to the lengthy statement disagreeing with the assertion that he wasn’t on the same level as other fighters, and that all the other fighters have a responsibility to turn up to promote events and do so.
“You have to be here to promote your fight — and you have to shoot this commercial,” White said.
“We’re spending $10 million in promotion for UFC 200 and all that money is in motion. You can’t do this. I don’t care who you are or how big you are, you can’t do this.”
Whether the McGregor vs Diaz rematch will go ahead is still to be debated, with the UFC set to lose a substantial amount of money without the Irish star on the cards.
McGregor’s Facebook statement:
I am just trying to do my job and fight here.
I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote.
I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting.
There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop.
50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photo shoots, and at the end of it all I’m left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this.
Nothing else was going through my mind.
It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life.
Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Conneticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a fuck morning show did not get me this life.
Talking to some lady that deep down doesn’t give a fuck about what I’m doing, but just wants some sound bites so she can maybe get her little tight ass a nice raise, and I’m cool with that too, I’ve been giving you all raises. But I need to focus on me now.
I’m coming for my revenge here.
I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep.
With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight.
I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again.
I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment.
But it was denied.
There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me.
So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them.
And all with one tweet.
Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.
I must isolate myself now.
I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time.
I can not dance for you this time.
It is time for the other monkeys to dance. I’ve danced us all the way here.
Nate’s little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it.
He came in with no shit to do that last one. I’d already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before RDA pulled out.
Maybe I’ll hit Cabo this time and skull some shots pre-fight with no obligation.
I’m doing what I need for me now.
It is time to be selfish with my training again. It is the only way.
I feel the $400million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside 8 months, is enough to get me this slight leeway.
I am still ready to go for UFC 200.
I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions.
If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don’t know what to say.
For the record also –
For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations –
I AM NOT RETIRED.
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