UFC News: Dana White Confirms Conor McGregor’s Retirement
With nearly two weeks passed since Conor McGregor made his second retirement announcement in just as many years, UFC president Dana White commented on the matter, succinctly confirming that the Irishman has quit mixed martial arts.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday night after UFC on ESPN 11, White briefly addressed McGregor’s status in the promotion, keeping things short and to the point as he told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that he hasn’t had any contact with the former two-division champion since his big announcement earlier this month.
“No (contact with McGregor). Conor McGregor is retired,” the UFC boss said, as quoted by MMA Weekly.
When McGregor took to Twitter on June 7 to say that he’s retiring from mixed martial arts, he did not specify any reason behind his decision, instead choosing to share a photo of himself and his mother following one of his title victories.
However, he did elaborate further on the move in a subsequent interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, where he admitted that he no longer feels excited about stepping into the octagon due to a lack of interesting opponents.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that. 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. There’s just no buzz for me.”
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 ?? pic.twitter.com/Dh4ijsZacZ— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 7, 2020
As further cited by Bleacher Report, McGregor also expressed disappointment regarding the possibility he might have to wait a while before he gets another shot at UFC’s lightweight championship. Justin Gaethje, who defeated Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title last month at UFC 249, is expected to face reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a unification bout in September.
Prior to this month’s announcement, McGregor tweeted on March 26, 2019, that he was retiring from mixed martial arts, five months after he lost to Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 — an event marred by a post-fight brawl between the camps of both men. The aforementioned retirement would turn out to be short-lived, as McGregor came back in January to defeat Donald Cerrone via first-round technical knockout at UFC 246.
White’s new update on McGregor’s status as a retired fighter came slightly over a week after he attacked the media for allegedly taking certain comments he made about the former champion out of context. Per Bleacher Report, the UFC president took offense to the idea that he “ripped” McGregor by suggesting he could use him as a replacement for Nurmagomedov, who backed out of his fight against Ferguson at UFC 249 due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
