Out of nowhere, and just months away from the biggest fight of his career at UFC 200 that would earn him millions of dollars, Conor McGregor released a surprising tweet announcing that he is retiring from MMA.
According to Ariel Helwani, the premier journalist in mixed martial arts, many sources close to McGregor are saying that this surprise announcement is completely legitimate, and not a hoax or a prank of any sort.
This comes shortly after Conor was in attendance at an Irish MMA fight where a fighter tragically died. It would appear this has Conor McGregor looking at his life after combat, and looking to take that route a lot more sooner than anyone would have expected.
If this is true, that means UFC 200 is in shambles. Conor was headlining the showcase event, and not to be outdone – Nate Diaz has also just announced his retirement. Nate was going to be Conor’s opponent at UFC 200.
The details are still unclear, and the reason for Conor’s retirement has yet to be announced, but this is going to leave a trail of very disappointed people, including…
- Dana White, who is probabally crying right now.
- Nate Diaz, who was looking forward to another massive payday.
- Jose Aldo, who won’t get his rematch.
- Rafael Dos Anjos, who had to pull out from his huge payday against McGregor due to an injury.
- Frankie Edgar, who would have fought Conor for the belt if McGregor didn’t move up weight classes.
Here’s a picture of a young Conor McGregor in his first world title fight…
He used the caption “Nothing in my pockets but holes.”
It looks like Conor’s been in a reflective mood, looking at his past, thinking about the future…
As a fan it’s also disappointing that such a firecracker of a fighter is calling it quits, but on the other hand you’ve got to respect him for taking the cash and getting out why he’s still young and healthy. GSP was another champ that fans were sad to see retire, but he got out with minimal damage and has been doing other things like hosting a show about dinosaurs. Fans are excited but also a bit weary now that there are talks of GSP making a comeback.
GSP has been posting training pictures lately, he’s got the itch…
Would Conor even be able to stay away? The man is a true warrior.
Just yesterday, Conor was travelling to train. This could mean that he plans to retire AFTER UFC 200, or that he’s just trolling and his entire team is in on it, but as far as the info we have right now, it sounds like Conor McGregor really is hanging up the gloves.
Or this could just be a money play, where Conor is forcing the UFC’s hand. They can’t have UFC 200 fall apart, so he could be flexing his muscles to get a sweeter contract lined up for himself. It’s not an unprecedented move in combat sports, so if McGregor is taking a page out of Mayweather’s book then good for him, he deserves it.
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