Thanks for the cheese
Conor McGregor has once again taken to Twitter to announce his retirement from MMA. In a late Monday night tweet, McGregor said that he has “decided to retire from the sport formally known as “mixed martial arts.”
Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as “Mixed Martial Art” today.
I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition.
I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement.
Proper Pina Coladas on me fellas!— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 26, 2019
The tweet came soon after McGregor’s appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” aired. During the interview, McGregor confirmed reports that he was negotiating for a July return to the cage. There was no mention of retirement in the Fallon interview but he did mention that he “doesn’t need to fight” and is “set for life.”
This is not the first time that McGregor has taken to Twitter to abruptly retire from MMA. Back in April 2016, between the two Nate Diaz fights, McGregor famously “decided to retire young” and thanked his followers “for the cheese.” This retirement didn’t last long and McGregor was back in the cage within a few months.
If McGregor is to officially retire, he would have to withdraw himself from the USADA testing pool. Until that happens, this can’t be taken as anything more than a publicity stunt or negotiation tactic.
It must be taken into consideration that this announcement comes a week after Conor McGregor stated he wanted an equity share in UFC and after UFC announced that all pay-per-view events will be available exclusively through ESPN+ in the United States. McGregor was always unlikely to receive any ownership of the promotion but as a fighter whose pay was very closely tied to pay-per-view buys, the new ESPN+ deal could significantly hurt McGregor’s earning potential unless a new deal is reached with a higher guarantee or more dollars per buy.
McGregor may or may not have fought his last fight, but one thing for certain is this story won’t end here.
White responds
Dana White, when reached for comment by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, expressed that he was happy for McGregor and his apparent decision to retire.
“He has the money to retire, and his whiskey is KILLIN’ it,” White said. “It totally makes sense. If I was him, I would retire too. He’s retiring from fighting, not from working. The whiskey will keep him busy, and I’m sure he has other things he’s working on. He has been so fun to watch. He has accomplished incredible things in this sport. I am so happy for him, and I look forward to seeing him be as successful outside of the octagon as he was in it.”
Statement from Dana White (@danawhite) on Conor McGregor’s retirement announcement moments ago, via text. pic.twitter.com/MNPnYypKPn
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 26, 2019
While it sounds like a cordial “happy retirement” statement from White, underneath it all, he has to be thinking “game on.”
Tuesday Notebook
-Ronda Rousey commented on McGregor’s retirement with a tweet saying “Second round is on me.”
-Possibly in response to McGregor’s retirement tweet, Michael Bisping sent out a tweet this morning saying that he has come out of retirement. He did follow up with a “ha ha.”
-Regarding Tyron Woodley offering Conor McGregor career advice recently, Colby Covington had the following to say to MMAJunkie. “It’s embarrassing, man. Tyron doing what he does best – embarrassing himself. He’s calling out a (155) pounder, a guy that’s below him that has no aspirations to fight him. The thing about Tyron, he’s not a draw. No one cares about him. The fans don’t want to see him fight. He’s boring inside the cage and outside the cage.”
-Felice Herrig vs. Yan Xiaonan has been verbally agreed to for UFC 238 on June 8 from Chicago.
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