Conor McGregor is expanding on his comments from Saturday night following UFC 250 where he took to social media to announce his retirement from mixed martial arts. McGregor has previously said he would walk away from the sport from his verified Twitter account, but this time he cited a lack of enthusiasm for his decision to walk away.
After the UFC 250 main event, McGregor tweeted, “Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting. 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.”
On Sunday morning, McGregor tweeted a photo of a cake that read “Happy Retirement Day!”
Then, McGregor spoke to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani to explain his decision for retiring from the sport, saying he is bored and “over it.” McGregor says he is tired of waiting for an opponent and sitting on the sidelines has taken away his passion.
“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.”
McGregor returned to the UFC after a lengthy layoff to batter Donald Cerrone in January. The former featherweight and lightweight champion said following that bout that he wanted to fight three times in 2020.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic struck, plans were shifted, and McGregor has been left without many options.
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“I’m a bit bored of the game,” he added. “I’m here watching the fight. I watched the last show — the [Tyron-Woodley-Gilbert Burns] show — I watched the show tonight. I’m just not excited about the game, Ariel. I don’t know if it’s no crowd. I don’t know what it is. There’s just no buzz for me.
“There’s nothing there for me. I’m trying to get excited. I’m trying my best. And when the Anderson one came along, I was like, yeah, s—, that’s a mad fight. And then everyone said he’s old and over the hill. I was, like, ‘What? Fighting a former light heavyweight and the middleweight GOAT, and the actual GOAT in my eyes, that’s not a rewardable fight?’ And you know, you’re actually right. It wouldn’t be rewarded. I would go in there and put him away, Ariel, and then what would happen? They’d say he’s old and he’s over the hill and he’s past his prime and all.”
Do you believe McGregor is serious about walking away this time around? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts.
