I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.
The Internet has gone into meltdown after Irish UFC star Conor McGregor tweeted, “I have decided to retire young.” The message came from McGregor’s official account at around 2:30 p.m. on April 19.
He’s due to fight Nate Diaz in Las Vegas on July 9 at UFC 200. McGregor lost to Diaz in March 2016. It has also been rumored that McGregor could fight Frankie Edgar in Madison Square Garden. That bout would have been the main event of the first ever UFC pay per view in New York City, following the legalization of the sport in the state.
TMZ reports that officials within UFC are unsure if McGregor is serious or if it’s a joke. McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh tweeted in the aftermath of the fighter’s announcement, “Well was fun while it lasted.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. McGregor Was at the Joao Carvalho Fight in Dublin That Turned Out to Be Fatal
McGregor was in attendance Joao Carvalho’s fight with Charlie Ward in Ireland’s National Stadium earlier in April 2016.
As a result of injuries sustained in the bout, Carvalho died in a Dublin hospital two days later.
In the above interview you can see McGregor talking solemnly about the fight, this is before Carvalho passed away. The featherweight champ says, “My team-mate Charlie had a good win just there. Hell of a fight. Yer man [Carvalho] took some big shots. Thought it could have been stopped a little earlier. I feel these referee’s need to be on the ball a little bit.”
2. Joe Rogan Doesn’t Believe That McGregor Is Really Retiring
During the April 19 version of this podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, MMA commentator Joe Rogan stopped to talk about McGregor’s tweet. Initially, Rogan, who has been a champion of McGregor’s, says he doesn’t believe the Irishman will retire. He then digresses into creating a scenario where it could be real.
3. He’s Previously Stated That He Wouldn’t Retire Until He Was a Champion in Every UFC Division
Multiple sources are adamant at this time that McGregor’s tweet isn’t a joke, troll job or hoax of any kind. Reason(s) behind it is unclear.
In February 2016, McGregor gave an interview with Severe MMA where he talked about not wanting to retire until he won every belt. This came a month before McGregor lost to Nate Diaz in a lightweight fight on March 5. McGregor said, “I’m coming for that belt, I’m coming for the next belt, I’m coming for the whole company.”
He added:
Why not go up? They get slower, and they get less free up there, they are stiffer, they are even more stuck than the lightweight division. So I’ll keep going, keep eating, keep training and keep going until all the belts are wrapped up.
I’m here to fight, I’m here to win every belt and then I’m gone and then I’ll see the game later, I’ll walk away from this game, I’ll set it ablaze and walk away. And that’s it.
To fulfill that feat, McGregor would have to win the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight championships. Given the lengths McGregor had to go to get to 155 pounds for the Diaz fight, making the 185 pound cut off for heavyweight would appear to require a monumental effort.
4. Rumors Are Rife That McGregor Could Be Headed to the WWE
Former UFC star Brock Lesnar found success in the WWE after rejoining the company in 2012.
Almost as soon as McGregor’s tweet appeared, rumors began that his next step could be a move to the WWE. In their report, the New York Daily News cited McGregor’s mass following of WWE personalities on social media in the last few days.
McGregor’s compatriot and WWE star Sheamus told TMZ in October that he wasn’t afraid of the UFC star and would welcome him in the world of professional wrestling.
5. At the Time of His ‘Retirement’ Tweet, McGregor Is Training in Iceland
On April 18, McGregor tweeted that he was training in Iceland. A photo showed him with friend Gunnar Nelson in Mjolnir.
McGregor previously trained in Iceland with Nelson just before the December 2015 Jose Aldo fight.