he’d teased it earlier in the day, and now it appears to be official — UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor has retired from mixed martial arts and will be pulled from the UFC 200 show.
McGregor tweeted that he was retiring early this afternoon, causing a firestorm. No reason for the retirement has been given, and many suspected that the 27-year old Irishman was either joking or leveraging for a better deal.
As it turns out, he seems serious, at least for now. UFC President Dana White appeared on ESPN to break the news to fans.
“Conor didn’t want to come to Las Vegas and be part of any promotional training,” White said. “He’s in Iceland training. It doesn’t make you exempt. We spend a lot of money on this stuff. Is Conor McGregor retiring? Only he can answer that question,” White said. “I don’t know. But he will not be a part of UFC 200.”
White said that a replacement fight is being sought out for the UFC 200 main event. McGregor was scheduled to take on Nate Diaz in a re-match on the July card.
