UFC superstar Conor McGregor has announced out-of-the-blue on social media that he’s retiring from MMA at 30 years-of-age.
“Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as “Mixed Martial Art” today,” McGregor stated.
“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!”
However, this isn’t the first time that McGregor has claimed that he is hanging up his gloves – he also did so in 2016 after falling out with the UFC over media obligations they wanted him to commit to prior to a rematch with Nate Diaz that had been scheduled for UFC 200.
However, it wasn’t long before McGregor retracted that announcement and the fight was rescheduled for UFC 202 instead.
So it may well that this is another power play from McGregor as it’s known that he’s been in negotations with the UFC over a potential fight at UFC 239 in July, and no doubt his financial demands have been astronomical.
Of course, there is also the possibility that he geniunely has decided to call it a day in the sport, and given that his blockbuster fights with the likes of Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather and Khabib Nurmagomedov in recent years have made him rich beyond his wildest dreams there’s no doubt that he doesn’t have to work another day in his life if he doesn’t want to.
It would unquestionably be an enormous loss to mixed martial arts if McGregor did retire as he’s by far the biggest, more famous and most bankable fighter the sport has ever seen and there’s still many must-see match-ups that could be made for him, but it would be wise to take this news with a pinch of salt and sit back and see what happens in the coming days and weeks.
