UFC legend McGregor retires yet again from fighting
BUT MIXED MARTIAL ARTS STAR HAS QUIT COMBAT SPORTS TWICE BEFORE
CONOR McGregor has dealt the UFC another blow after announcing his latest shock retirement from combat sports, writes David Charlesworth of PA Sport.
The former featherweight and lightweight champion is unquestionably the biggest draw in mixed martial arts, having been a headliner in the UFC’s three highest grossing pay-per-views and five of the top six.
However, hot on the heels of lightheavyweight champion Jon Jones and welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal asking to be released from the UFC, McGregor unexpectedly called time on his career in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Following the conclusion of UFC 250, the 31-year-old McGregor wrote on Twitter: “Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting. “Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!”
The brash Irishman has made similar statements of intent in 2016 and 2019 before making swift u-turns on both occasions.
McGregor made an explosive return to the octagon in January after 15 months of inactivity, stopping American veteran Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in just 40 seconds to take his MMA record to 22 wins and four defeats.
A rematch against fierce rival and lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had been mooted for later this year while a speculation of a ‘superfight’ against former middleweight great Anderson Silva has been steadily building, with the Brazilian publicly touting a showdown over the weekend.
Only two weeks ago, McGregor declared Silva as the greatest MMA fighter of all-time but the Dubliner added he would “easily” make the top spot his own before retiring.
McGregor joined the UFC in 2013, having established himself as a twodivision Cage Warriors champion.
He needed only 13 seconds to overcome long-reigning featherweight champion Jose Aldo in December 2015, the fastest victory in UFC title history.
One year later, he became the first person to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously when he stopped Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight crown – although just a few days later he was stripped of the featherweight belt. McGregor then crossed over into boxing and though he lost to five-weight world champion Floyd Mayweather in August 2017, it was a bout that reportedly earned him in excess of $100 million.
McGregor returned to the UFC the following year, losing to Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in a bout where the build-up and immediate aftermath was tarnished by a number of controversial flash points.
He has also been in trouble with the law. In 2018, he was sentenced to five days of community service after video footage showed him attacking a bus containing UFC fighters.
Last year, McGregor was fined 1,000 euros after pleading guilty to assaulting an older man in a pub in Dublin.