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.
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.
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.
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.
Dogforlife
Roar Rookie
Seriously WTF!! Was so looking forward to him getting smashed by Nate again too... I cant however make up my mind if this is publicity stunt or Dana pulling the reins in to regain control.
Ben
Guest
or injured.
lester
Guest
Classic americans choosing to waste everyones time with stupid photo ops, advertising exercises and hype events rather than just let them get on with training.
Ken
Guest
But he's under contract, he can't just leave and sign with another organisation. Until he fulfils whatever the contracted number of fights are he's stuck with uncle Dana.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
"You could argue about whether the UFC needs top billing fighters or the other way round." In the vast majority of cases the UFC definitely have the upper hand but not with Conor. Without Conor who's left in the UFC with genuine headline-spawning, crossover star power? Ronda is the only one and she could fall off the radar real quickly if she comes back badly from the Holly loss. If the UFC snubbed Conor he could go to Bellator and put them on the map, for real. That could then skew the whole power balance and rub out the Big Show (UFC) vs D-grade (Bellator etc) choice fighters currently have. Losing Conor to Bellator (wild speculation here) would be a massive, massive Superman punch to the UFC.
KingKongBundy
Guest
I would almost put my house on McGregor and Diaz to headline UFC 200 just like they were suppose to.Surely white and McGregor will work this one out after they settle down there's still a long time before this event happens and way too much money at stake for both men and yes people this is about money,I'm sure McGregor was affected by the death but he is a fighter there isn't a switch that he can just turn off he will be back you mark my words
Rossy
Roar Rookie
If they do, I'd be watching for a rival MMA fed to offer him a big deal Seriously, why not consider a huge payday, even equity in the fed to fight elsewhere. The guy is the biggest ticket in world fighting - where he goes people will watch. Especially with all this controversy.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
There's no way someone like Conor retires with a tweet. He's more likely to walk down the Vegas strip with a tiger and announce it from the MGM Grand Lions neck. Trying to sell a PPV like I assume Mundine is with his "return to the dragons"
Kaks
Roar Guru
Need to remember that he just witnessed a young bloke die in the octagon. That may be weighing on his mind.
Tristan Rayner
Editor
I get the feeling he's not thinking about the money, but his health. Watching the terrible loss of Joao Carvalho may have affected him.
Damo
Guest
I agree completely. That being said, imagine if the UFC call his bluff completely and he has to actually retire or come grovelling back 'out of retirement'. If I was the UFC I'd be worried about setting a precedence. You could argue about whether the UFC needs top billing fighters or the other way round, but either way the politics and longer lasting effects of this will be very interesting to watch.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
I cannot believe for a second that Conor will retire. I'm a massive fan, and so biased, but I've seen few athletes with the level of focus, drive and belief that Conor has. He's only just scratching the surface of what he can do in MMA. Going out on a loss at 27yo would be madness. He'd also be tossing away up to $100 million in earnings over the next 7-8 years. Surely this is all just a heavy-handed bargaining tactic to try to wring more money out of the Fertittas.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Just when UFC was making some huge waves. This certainly doesn't help there plan.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Incredibly interested in how this will play out.
davico
Guest
Juicing!