Tuesday morning the MMA world was stunned as Conor McGregor announced his retirement from MMA ahead of his UFC 200 welterweight scrap against Nate Diaz.
McGregor’s coach seemingly confirmed the news on Twitter, which was followed up by UFC President Dana White announcing on SportsCenter that McGregor had been pulled from UFC 200 for refusing to fulfill media obligations.
McGregor followed this up by shutting down a reporter who requested an interview by saying: “I’m retired. Fuck interviews.”
Jonathan Shrager then released more information on the situation after speaking to an immediate family member of McGregor.
I've just had contact with an immediate family member of #McGregor, and it would appear the retirement tweet is to be taken at face value
— Jonathan Shrager (@JonathanShrager) April 19, 2016
#McGregor Update 1/2: Conor confirmed to my source (see earlier tweet) a couple of hours ago that he's retired
— Jonathan Shrager (@JonathanShrager) April 20, 2016
#McGregor Update 2/2: Conor informed my source that the promo tour was unrealistic; not just the presser, it was more like a mini world tour
— Jonathan Shrager (@JonathanShrager) April 20, 2016