Conor McGregor explains decision to retire from MMA (again)
Most of us are familiar with the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and it remains to be seen if that story will apply to the latest MMA retirement. Once again UFC superstar Conor McGregor announced that he would retire from MMA, which he made clear via a post on Twitter.
“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting,” McGregor wrote. “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”
This was met with apprehension, to say the least. This is purely because this hardly is the first time McGregor has supposedly retired. He has done so on at least two previous occasions, only to return to combat sports. Taking this into account, McGregor recently spoke with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, citing tensions in negotiations with the UFC as a reason.
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“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 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.”
There is truth to McGregor’s arguments. He is currently without an opponent, and without clear direction. UFC president Dana White has advised McGregor to wait for a shot at the lightweight title, facing the winner between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. McGregor is, however, just one of many high-profile fighters who have had contentious relations with the UFC as of late.
