Stepping out of the ring. Conor McGregor is retiring from the UFC for the third time in his career.
“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting,” the former two-division UFC World Champion, 31, tweeted on Sunday, June 7. “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.”
McGregor told ESPN on Sunday that he no longer feels excited about the sport, which he began playing professionally in 2007 at the age of 18.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” the Ireland native said. “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.”
McGregor also slammed the UFC for not allowing him to fight Justin Gaethje for the lightweight interim title in July. Instead, Gaethje, 31, will fight against champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in September.
“I mean, why are they pushing [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje] back to September?” he said. “You know what’s going to happen in September, something else is going to happen in September, and that’s not going to happen.”
McGregor added, “They should have just done the fight — me and Justin for the interim title — and just kept the ball rolling.”
The former featherweight and lightweight champion announced that he had decided to “retire young” from mixed martial arts in April 2016. However, he returned later that year to fight Nate Diaz.
Three years later, McGregor — who is ranked eighth on the UFC pound-for-pound list — signed off for a second time via Twitter in March 2019.
“Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as ‘Mixed Martial Art’ today,” he wrote.“I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition. I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement. Proper Pina Coladas on me fellas!”
McGregor’s last fight was at the UFC 246 in January in Las Vegas, where he defeated Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds.
