UFC's McGregor says he's retiring
In a tweet Saturday night, UFC star Conor McGregor said he is retiring from fighting. "Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it's been!" he wrote.
On Sunday morning, McGregor told ESPN that he has 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, 31, said he had written a draft of his retirement tweet two weeks ago and was "just tired" of the sport.
"I'm a bit bored of the game," he told ESPN. "I'm here watching the fight. I watched the last show -- the [Tyron-Woodley-Gilbert 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."
UFC president Dana White told reporters after UFC 250 that people have been acting strangely lately because of the pandemic. But if McGregor wants to retire, White said, then he should retire.
"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, 31, said he had written a draft of his retirement tweet two weeks ago and was "just tired" of the sport.
"I'm a bit bored of the game," he told ESPN. "I'm here watching the fight. I watched the last show -- the [Tyron-Woodley-Gilbert 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."
UFC president Dana White told reporters after UFC 250 that people have been acting strangely lately because of the pandemic. But if McGregor wants to retire, White said, then he should retire.