Conor McGregor Opens Up On His Decision To Retire
Former UFC dual weight champion Conor McGregor shocked the MMA world by announcing his retirement from the sport last night. The Irishman had been hoping to compete three times in 2020 but so far has fought just once and currently has no opponent lined up.
Speaking to ESPN following his announcement McGregor explained his reasons for retiring and it seems to be mainly the fact he is currently unmotivated by the lack of fights available to him.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor said. “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.”
‘Notorious’ was hoping to face off against newly the crowned interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje but the American will instead face Khabib Nurmagomedov in September, something the Irishman is not a fan of, he explained.
“They should have just kept the ball rolling. I mean, why are they pushing back to September? 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.”
Once the prospect of fighting Gaethje was off the table McGregor turned his attention towards a fight with middleweight legend Anderson Silva but received fan backlash for pursuing a fight against the faded veteran.
“There’s nothing there for me. I’m trying to get excited. I’m trying my best. And when the Anderson one came along, I was like, ‘Yeah, (expletive), that’s a mad fight!’ And then everyone said he’s old and over the hill. I was, like, ‘What? Fighting a former light heavyweight and the middleweight GOAT, and the actual GOAT in my eyes, that’s not a rewardable fight?’ And you know, you’re actually right. It wouldn’t be rewarded. I would go in there and put him away, and then what would happen? They’d say he’s old and he’s over the hill and he’s past his prime and all.”
McGregor has also been left uninspired by watching the UFC events taking place behind closed doors and the fact his plans have gone up in smoke have only added to that uninspired feeling, he said.
“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. I don’t know if it’s (because there’s) no crowd. I don’t know what it is. There’s just no buzz for me.”
“I had my goals, my plans, the season. I had everything laid out,” McGregor said. “Obviously the world has gone bleeding bonkers at the minute. There’s (expletive) 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 (expletive). I’m over it.
“We’ll see what the future holds. But for right now, for the immediate future, 2020, all the best to it.”
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