Conor McGregor retires from MMA
Conor McGregor has done it again. He’s retired via Twitter for the second time in three years. The timing is weird and could well be a negotiation tactic of Conor’s like back in 2016 before the Nate Diaz rematch. However, Dana White seems to believe this is for good.
His return to the Octagon has been rumoured since his one-sided defeat at the hands of Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last October. First, there was a fight with Donald Cerrone being highly touted, however, rumours are that McGregor wouldn’t fight in the co-main Event spot.
McGregor later refuted these claims while speaking with fans in Chicago a couple of weekends ago “If the UFC wants me to slide into that co-main event and help, what that is, me sliding into the co-main event, it’s boosting their brand over fighter rhetoric that they have. There’s no problem with that. But if they want me to push that – and I have no problem pushing that – give me my rightful shares in the UFC company. That’s all I ask. You can put me on the first fight of ESPN+, no problem. So let’s see how it goes.”
The problem McGregor has is that his stock is nowhere near what it was in the MMA world back in 2016. Yes, he has had a bigger PPV since then, but that was only because of his long-standing rivalry with Khabib. However, since that loss and his loss to Floyd Mayweather before that, Conor is now facing a climb back to the top.
While his whiskey company is doing well, McGregor is not oblivious to what made him his fortune in the first place. He will be smart enough to know that he won’t maintain his fame and fortune if he doesn’t stay relevant in the sport that made him a star. You could take this with a pinch of salt and believe that we’ll see McGregor back in the Octagon by the end of this year. Or possibly it is the end for “Notorious”, the most popular star the sport has ever seen
