Only hours earlier, McGregor took to Twitter and announced his retirement from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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UFC President Dana White broke the news Tuesday night during an appearance on SportsCenter.
It appears that the UFC ran out of patience with the 28-year-old who has previously said that he “owns the game”.
White shared his side of the story, saying Conor was pulled due to him to refusing to participate in any promotional events, which was taking place in Las Vegas.
Other shadowy sources have said that Conor rightfully wanted to be a top-paid fighter of all-time and frankly what he’s worth.
“It doesn’t make you exempt”. Would you say he made enough money and cashed out at the right time?
Asked whether McGregor would retire, White responded, “only he can answer that”.
Remember, Conor McGregor regularly draws over 1 million PPV buys. “You have to do the press for the events”, White said. White said there would also be another fight added to the UFC 200 bill in addition to that.
Whatever the case ultimately ends up being, Conor McGregor will not be getting into the octagon come UFC 200.
McGregor’s showmanship has earned him both huge attention – he was a Sports Illustrated cover boy – and revenue, and fans and cameras flock to the fighter. “You have to do it”.
The welterweight rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz at UFC 200 is no longer happening. It seemed clear, even with his loss to Diaz, that McGregor was going to keep pushing against the UFC’s structure.
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According to White, McGregor “didn’t want to come to Las Vegas and be part of any promotional” work, because he doesn’t want to interrupt the training he’s doing in Iceland. He has completed two high profile global tours in the build-up for his fights against Chad Mendes, when originally he should have fought Jose Aldo, and then eventually for the fight against the Brazilian. Whether or not he really is retiring remains to be seen, however one thing that is clear – UFC is working on a new UFC 200 main event.
