White today revealed that the reasoning behind this was because McGregor refused to partake in a promotional filming and press conference in Las Vegas for the upcoming fight.
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Featherweight champion Conor McGregor has been pulled from the bill of UFC 200 in July as speculation continues to mount about the Irish star’s future in MMA’s most lucrative promotion. [But] you can’t decide not to show up to these things. “You have to do it”.
However, the UFC later tweeted confirmation that the Irishman had pulled out of his next scheduled fight with a Nate Diaz at UFC 200.
McGregor’s removal from UFC 200 came hours after he posted a tweet, saying he has made a decision to retire.
White was asked if he could confirm whether McGregor was retiring from UFC, but stated that all he knew was that his rematch with Diaz was off. The site notes that according to a source close to McGregor, the fighter will make a public comment about his removal from the show within the next day.
Diaz playfully replied to McGregor’s tweet with his own “retirement” announcement. Diaz is the same person who dealt the UFC featherweight champion his first UFC career loss back in March 5. “This has only happened one other time in UFC history”. McGregor once notoriously said that he doesn’t fight for UFC, he is UFC, so this is consistent with his mindset.
McGregor’s retirement tweet comes just a week after the popular fighter witnessed the death of fellow MMA fighter João Carvalho, who died after suffering injuries in a match in Dublin in early April. Only he can answer that question. Along with that, McGregor was to perform promotional and marketing filming in advance of his event at T-Mobile Arena.
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White also told SportsCenter that the UFC is in the process of securing another fight for Diaz at the UFC 200.
