Conor McGregor, former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight and lightweight champion, has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
The fighter announced his decision on Twitter, with the comments picked up by TMZ.
“I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as ‘Mixed Martial Art’ today,” McGregor tweeted. “I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition. I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement.”
McGregor previously announced his retirement in 2016 due to the impending birth of his first child, but returned in 2018 to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship in Las Vegas, which he lost via a submission in the fourth round.
President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, discussed McGregor’s retirement with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, saying: “He has the money to retire and his whiskey is KILLIN it. It totally makes sense. If I was him I would retire too.”
The whiskey comment refers to McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey company, which has proven notably successful.
Conor McGregor has been a big star in the world of MMA, and even featured in a documentary about his career, Conor McGregor: Notorious, back in 2017.
It remains to be seen if McGregor is done with MMA and the UFC for good, or if this announcement will turn out to be more of a hiatus than a retirement.
Matt Purslow is IGN UK’s News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.
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