UFC’s biggest star has again announced that his career in the octagon is over. Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor tweeted late Saturday night, just after the conclusion of UFC 250, that he is retiring from fighting.
McGregor last fought at UFC 246 in January, where he defeated Cowboy Cerrone at welterweight and earned performance of the night honors. McGregor was currently the No. 4 ranked lightweight in the world, the No. 15 welterweight, and the No. 8 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in UFC.
Not all fans are convinced McGregor is truly stepping away from the sport, however. McGregor similarly announced his retirement from MMA in March 2019, but later came back to fight Cerrone.
McGregor explained his decision in an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, and said he’s “bored of the game” at the moment. McGregor had previously expressed his intention to fight three times in 2020, but the impact of the coronavirus on the UFC calendar seems to have played a major role in McGregor’s decision to step away.
Via ESPN:
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that. 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.
…. 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.”
