Conor McGregor has announced his retirement from the sport of MMA for the third time in four years.Moments after the conclusion of UFC 250, in the early hours of Sunday, McGregor announced via Twitter that he was walking away from the sport.In an interview with ESPN, McGregor claimed to have lost his excitement for the sport."The game just does not excite me, and that's that," McGregor 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."They should have just kept the ball rolling. I mean, why are they pushing [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje] back to September? You know what's going to happen in September, something else is going to happen in September, and that's not going to happen."I laid out a plan and a method that was the right move, the right methods to go with. And they always want to balk at that and not make it happen or just drag it on. Whatever I say, they want to go against it to show some kind of power. They should have just done the fight -- me and Justin for the interim title -- and just kept the ball rolling."McGregor claimed to have written out a draft of his retirement tweet two weeks ago, reiterating his loss of desire and “buzz” for the sport.McGregor continued: "I'm a bit bored of the game."I'm here watching the fight. I watched the last show -- the Woodley-Burns show -- I watched the show tonight. I'm just not excited about the game, Ariel. I don't know if it's no crowd. I don't know what it is. There's just no buzz for me."
As many fans know oh so well, this isn’t the first time ‘Notorious’ has announced his retirement over Twitter, he did so once in 2016 after deciding not to partake in a news conference for his rematch against Nate Diaz – of which, he later returned and defeated that August.
McGregor retired again in April 2019 amidst negotiations with UFC which were later resolved – we saw him return with an emphatic victory against Donald Cerrone, lasting just 40 seconds.
Prior to the Cerrone fight, McGregor vowed to fight three times in 2020. He was targeting his second bout to happen July 11 in Las Vegas, but COVID-19 halted all potential plans.
"I had my goals, my plans, the season. I had everything laid out," McGregor said. "Obviously the world has gone bleeding bonkers at the minute. There's f--- all happening at the minute. They want to throw me up and down weights and offer me stupid fights. I don't really give a f---. I'm over it."
According to reports, McGregor’s management team have tried tirelessly to secure his next fight for July, however, it seems as though plans have not been able to come to fruition.
"There's nothing there for me," McGregor said. "I'm trying to get excited. I'm trying my best. And when the Anderson one came along, I was like, yeah, s---, that's a mad fight. And then everyone said he's old and over the hill. I was, like, What? Fighting a former light heavyweight and the middleweight GOAT, and the actual GOAT in my eyes, that's not a rewardable fight? And you know, you're actually right. It wouldn't be rewarded. I would go in there and put him away, Ariel, and then what would happen? They'd say he's old and he's over the hill and he's past his prime and all."
It would seem as though lack of a clear-cut opponent for McGregor, a lack of communication and a proper timeline as to when he can get back on track with things has left McGregor bitterly frustrated.
"I don't know. It's just crazy," McGregor said. "I was cutting to 155, and then because I asked for 155, they wanted to show power and stomp all over me. I don't know why they do this. But it was taken from me and then pushed back. So, then I'm thinking I don't want to be cutting if I'm fighting at 170. I have to be careful here. My body has to be correct to the weight. And then the 176 [Silva] talk. I'm just over it, man."
Currently it seems as though McGregor has other things on his mind and is focusing his energy on that.
"My mother is out there picking out a beautiful home, an absolute beautiful home, her dream home," McGregor said. "It would likely be her final home, my family's final home for them, a retirement home. I'm very, very proud to do this, and that's it.
"We'll see what the future holds. But for right now, for the immediate future, 2020, all the best to it."
Despite these recent comments, McGregor’s team claim that Conor is currently walking around at around the 170-pound mark – fight shape!