UFC superstar and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor announced his retirement from the sport on Sunday.
“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!” the two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) World Champion posted on Twitter with a picture of his mother, Margaret.
“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!” he wrote.
“Here is a picture of myself and my mother in Las Vegas post one of my World title wins! Pick the home of your dreams Mags I love you! Whatever you desire it’s yours.”
McGregor first announced his retirement in April 2016: “I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya’s later.”
He also said he was retiring from the sport in March 2019 after he was beaten into submission by Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
Fans still await if the superstar would be serious this time, but on Sunday, he told ESPN: “I’m a bit bored of the game. I’m just not excited about the game. I don’t know if it’s no crowd. I don’t know what it is. There’s just no buzz for me.
“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.”
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Conor McGregor announces retirement
UFC president Dana White meanwhile paid tribute to Conor McGregor after the UFC 250 ended in Las Vegas early Sunday morning.
“If Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement, you should absolutely do it,” White said at the post-event press conference.
“I love Conor. There’s a handful of people that have made this really fun for me, and he’s one of them.”
White said he had no warning about McGregor’s announcement but added: “That’s Conor. You know how Conor works and that’s how he does things.
“When you look at the star power that Conor McGregor, the star that he became, he introduced this thing globally to people in places that had never seen it before or been interested in it.
“Conor McGregor is not going to need any money any time soon. He loves to fight, he’s passionate about it and he’s got an incredible fighter IQ. Whatever his reason is, when a guy says he wants to retire, don’t worry about it.”