Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor has revealed the real reasons behind his shocking retirement from mixed martial arts.
McGregor stunned the MMA world on early Sunday after he announced on Twitter he is done with the sport – the third time he made such announcement in four years.
Coming off a vicious 40-second knockout of Donald Cerrone in January, ‘The Notorious’ sets his sights on competing three times this year as he seeks to reclaim the lightweight throne from his biggest enemy, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
However, these plans came to a sudden halt as McGregor decided to hang up his gloves, saying there is nothing in the sport now that gives him excitement.
“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,” he told ESPN.
Keep The Ball Rolling
In the same interview, McGregor expressed his disappointment over the UFC’s decision to pursue the unification bout between Nurmagomedov and newly-crowned interim champion, Justin Gaethje, which could go down this fall.
Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White told the Irishman to wait for the eventual winner of the said fight.
“They should have just kept the ball rolling. I mean, why are they pushing [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje] back to September?” McGregor continued.
“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.”
No Buzz
Bored of the sport, McGregor said: “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.”
He ended: “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.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor)