UFC News: Conor McGregor tweets 'I have decided to retire young'

Conor McGregor[photo: Commons Wikimedia/Andrius Petrucenia]

It has already been confirmed that there will be no rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz in the upcoming UFC 200 scheduled on July 9 in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, it is still up in the air if McGregor will have another fight at all.

The MMA superstar shocked his fans this week with a tweet saying, "I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later." The statement was followed with a tweet from McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, saying "Was fun while it lasted."

According to ESPN, UFC President Dana White cannot speak on the fighter's behalf, but if recent developments are to be a basis, the retirement statement may not be a joke this time around. White said that it is now official that McGregor will be pulled out of the UFC 200 event, and his rematch with Diaz, because the fighter is unwilling to fly to Las Vegas and participate in pre-event schedules.

White said, "We pulled Conor McGregor from UFC 200 and we're working on other fights right now. Conor did not want to come to Las Vegas and film the commercial and be a part of the marketing. He's in Iceland training."

As for McGregor's tweet, the UFC head doesn't know if it will push through. "Is Conor retiring? Only he can answer that question. I don't know", White added.

According to Pundit Arena, while it is still unclear if McGregor will ever fight at all, him being pulled out of an upcoming UFC fight seems to be a stand-off between "The Notorious's" principles and the management's mandatory policies. Ariel Helwani, one of the industry's foremost observers, said that his industry insiders mentioned how McGregor is devastated by the recent news of fellow fighter Jao Carvalho, and doing stunts and promoting a fight "... is a tough thing for a young man to swallow. I have a hard time not sympathising with Conor in this case."