Conor McGregor, considered the biggest star in UFC history, posted on Twitter on Saturday night that he retired from Octagon.
The announcement, which came after Amanda Nunes’ impressive flying class defensive title at UFC 250, came as a surprise, but someone already believed it to be insincere and could be more a publicity stunt. Retirement is often used as a bargaining tool in combat sports.
The 31-year-old McGregor, who has a 22-4 record in mixed martial arts, recently fought on January 18 when he scored a first round TKO victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246.
“Hi, comrades, I have decided to retire from battle,” McGregor tweeted. “Thank you for the great memories! A very pleasant trip! “
The skepticism of this retirement announcement came from the fact that controversial fighters had made this doubtful statement before. Now this is the third time in four years the former champion of the two divisions announced his resignation. He also said he had finished fighting in 2016 and 2019, only to return.
McGregor recently didn’t sound like a warrior ready to stop. On May 28, he did posted on Twitter that he would accept the fight with Anderson Silva, another UFC legend. According to ESPN, this summer McGregor was once bound to a potential battle with current lightweight competitor Justin Gaethje, and there are also speculations of a trilogy battle, a tiebreaker fight against Nate Diaz.
Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White said McGregor might be better served to wait and face the winner of the title fight between Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor’s mortal enemy who won over him.
After McGregor’s victory over Cerrone, there was also speculation that he would fight Floyd Mayweather again. But a rematch against Mayweather will be a little more challenging to hype again after McGregor clearly lost the 10th round TKO defeat on August 26, 2017.
Although White is likely to like having McGregor in another high-level battle, he told reporters Saturday night that if “The Notorious” wants to retire, he should call it quits, but also notes that people have behaved strangely during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Nobody presses anyone to fight,” White said after the UFC 250. “And if Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know how I feel about retiring – you should really do it. And I like Conor … there are some people who make this very fun for me. And he is one of them. “
White, who has been a feud between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and star Jorge Masvidal, said “the number of people I shot at me right now is crazy.”
But the famous promoter, who has also been at odds with HBO host John Oliver, noted the many intrigues of the UFC up to turbulent times.
“If that’s what Conor feels right now – Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal, I feel you,” White said. “It’s not like I’m leaving,” Oh my God—, this is crazy, this is crazy. “There is nothing crazy and crazy now, because everything is crazy and crazy now, to some degree. I really understood it and got it.”
McGregor, who has been the subject of controversy throughout his career, has made a lot of history at Octagon. When McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to win the light belt at UFC 205 on November 12, 2016, he became the first UFC fighter to hold two titles in two different weight classes simultaneously.
