Earlier today, the MMA world went nuts when Conor McGregor abruptly announced his retirement from MMA.
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
Many thought that Conor was just trolling but it seems like there’s some beef between UFC president Dana White and the UFC champion after the Irishman was a no show at a prefight press conference in Las Vegas.
Reasons still unclear, but 4 hours later, multiple sources maintaining McGregor's tweet is real. UFC working on next step(s) at this time.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 19, 2016
Dana White just announced on ESPN that Conor McGregor is out of UFC 200. They are actively working on a new main event.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 19, 2016
Note the wording here. "UFC pulls McGregor …" https://t.co/Sf3WlKDA4R
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 19, 2016
Here’s what White said on SportsCenter
Via MMAFighting.com
Obviously we still have a good relationship with Conor,” “I respect Conor as a fighter and I like him as a person. But you can’t decide not to show up to these things. You have to do it.”
White said McGregor didn’t want to come to the press conference, because he was in Iceland training and didn’t want to ruin his preparation for the fight with Nate Diaz on July 9 in Las Vegas. White added that only McGregor knows for sure if he is really retired.
McGregor has always tested Dana White’s authority but it seems like UFC president has had enough of his shit for now.