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Conor McGregor has dealt the UFC another blow after announcing his latest shock retirement from combat sports but company president Dana White said: \u201cIf people don\u2019t want to fight, you don\u2019t have to fight\u201d.<\/p>\nConor McGregor has dealt the UFC another blow after announcing his latest shock retirement from combat sports but company president Dana White said: \u201cIf people don\u2019t want to fight, you don\u2019t have to fight\u201d.<\/p>\n
The former featherweight and lightweight champion is unquestionably the biggest draw in mixed martial arts, having been a headliner in the UFC\u2019s three highest grossing pay-per-views and five of the top six.<\/p>\n
However, hot on the heels of light-heavyweight 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 this morning.<\/p>\n
Following the conclusion of UFC 250, the 31-year-old McGregor wrote on Twitter: \u201cHey guys I\u2019ve decided to retire from fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it\u2019s 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\u2019s yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dubliner has made similar statements of intent in 2016 and 2019 before making swift u-turns on both occasions.<\/p>\n
McGregor made an explosive return to the octagon in January after 15 months of inactivity, stopping American veteran Donald \u2018Cowboy\u2019 Cerrone in just 40 seconds to take his MMA record to 22 wins and four defeats.<\/p>\n
A rematch against fierce rival and lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had been mooted for later this year while speculation of a \u2018superfight\u2019 against former middleweight titlist Anderson Silva has been steadily building, with the Brazilian great publicly touting a showdown over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Only two weeks ago, McGregor declared Silva as the greatest MMA fighter of all-time but the Dubliner added he would \u201ceasily\u201d make the top spot his own before retiring.<\/p>\n
While that is now open to interpretation, White seemed fairly relaxed about the uncertainty of McGregor\u2019s UFC future, as well as that of Jones and Masvidal, due to the events currently gripping the world right now.<\/p>\n
White has managed to stage five shows behind closed doors during a global coronavirus pandemic which led to the shutdown of major sporting events, most of which are yet to resume.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the UFC 250 press conference, he said in quotes on the organisation\u2019s YouTube channel: \u201cThe amount of people I have gunning at me right now is insane. But here we are.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve pulled off our fifth fight, no other sports are going right now but us and one of the beautiful things about this sport is you don\u2019t have to fight. If people don\u2019t want to fight, you don\u2019t have to fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t the NBA or the NFL where you better be at practice, you better show up and do this, you don\u2019t have to do anything here and if these guys want to sit out and retire right now or if anybody feels uncomfortable in any way, shape or form with what\u2019s going on you don\u2019t have to fight. It is all good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s what Conor\u2019s feeling right now, Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal, I feel you. Nothing is crazy and nuts right now because everything is crazy and nuts right now. On a certain level I totally understand and get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
White says he had no forewarning about McGregor\u2019s announcement but added: \u201cThat\u2019s Conor. You know how Conor works and that\u2019s how he does things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a handful of people that have made this really fun for me and Conor is one of those guys.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the star power that Conor McGregor, the star that he became, he introduced this thing globally to people in places that had never seen it before or been interested in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cConor McGregor is not going to need any money any time soon. He loves to fight, he\u2019s passionate about it and he\u2019s got an incredible fighter IQ. Whatever his reason is, when a guy says he wants to retire, don\u2019t worry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGregor joined the UFC in 2013, having established himself as a two-division Cage Warriors champion.<\/p>\n
He needed only 13 seconds to overcome long-reigning featherweight champion Jose Aldo in December 2015, the fastest victory in UFC title history.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 although just a few days later he was stripped of the featherweight belt.<\/p>\n
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 $100m.<\/p>\n
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 flashpoints.<\/p>\n
McGregor has also had a couple of brushes with the law during his time in UFC. In 2018, he was sentenced to five days of community service after video footage showed him attacking a bus containing UFC fighters, including Nurmagomedov, months before their showdown.<\/p>\n
Last year, McGregor was fined \u20ac1,000 after pleading guilty to assaulting an older man in a pub in Dublin.<\/p>\n