Written by Derek Moody, April 20, 2016, at 7:00 a.m. Tweet to: @DerekMoody619
The MMA universe was dealt a blow in hearing the news via Twitter that Conor McGregor was calling his MMA career within the UFC a wrap. Never knowing how serious some tweets are, we scratched our heads and pondered if it’s just him reaching for more attention.
He’s posted pictures and sent tweets causing an uproar in the past like the picture of him pointing a gun outside of his BWV a few months back which reeled in controversy so maybe this was right up that alley.
Going from welfare to riches in a short period of time, why not cash out young while your body is still intact? He’s certainly made some life changing money that he could easily walk away with without looking back.
Walking away from the biggest payday of his young career seems rather asinine but knowing Conor McGregor’s decision making, it had to be well thought out and discussed with John Kavanagh. Mcgregor has flirted with retirement before; in the past, the retirement talks were fueled by frustration that may be the case here as well.
The UFC wanted Conor McGregor to fulfill his promotional obligations by flying to Las Vegas, a city he has a love hate relationship with, and film the UFC 200 commercial along with a few press conferences. Conor had informed the UFC that he would not participate in any promotional activities, commercial shoots or press conferences for UFC 200. As soon as the promotion heard Conor’s decision they made a very big one as well, pull McGregor from UFC 200.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1CMJeMjLb0
A fighter being pulled for not fulfilling their promotional obligations has only happened once before in the history of the UFC. Nick Diaz, the brother of Conor McGregor’s former UFC 200 opponent, was pulled from UFC 137 where he was supposed to fight George St. Pierre for the Welterweight Title due to failed media appearances. Diaz was later placed back on the card to fight B.J. Penn missing out on his title shot in 2011 later regaining that shot in 2013.
McGregor states he didn’t want to fly out due to it hurting his training for the fight, which may very well be true but this isn’t his first rodeo, he’s had to do commercials and press conferences for his last 6 fights. Maybe McGregor didn’t want to tour with Nate Diaz knowing Diaz will have the upper head during their verbal sparring at the press conferences due to Diaz submitting Mcgregor. That would make Mcgregor appear to be all talk until he steps in the cage and avenges his lone UFC defeat.
Recently McGregor was sitting ringside at Total Extreme Fighting in support of his fellow SBG teammate, Charlie Ward as he took on Joao Carvalho. Carvalho loss via TKO in the third round, taking many shots to the head before referee stoppage. After the fight Carvalho was being transported to the hospital, saying he was suffering from headaches and feeling nauseated he then began vomiting. Carvalho tragically ended up dying due to injuries sustained in the fight Monday April 11th, following his fight on Saturday. The night of the fight McGregor did an interview stating, “the fight should have been stopped earlier the referees need to be on the ball a little bit”.
McGregor wrote several kind words in facebook posts in regards to the death of Joao Carvalho that may have some semblance to his retirement if emotion over Carvalho’s death is in fact the cause for retirement. Here are two quotes out of many that McGregor issued for the fallen fighter:
“To see a young man doing what he loves, competing for a chance at a better life, and then to have it taken away is truly heartbreaking”
“Nobody involved in combat sports of any kind wants to see this. It is such a rare occurrence that I don’t know how to take this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwOC-ssbeHY
Dana White explained the situation with ESPN: “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. Is Conor retiring? Only he can answer that question. I don’t know.”
Until Conor McGregor actually comes forward and gives his take on the situation, we’re left with the puzzling question of which reason is the most valid: he didn’t want to break training or he’s still emotional over the death of Joao Carvalho. In the meantime Nate Diaz will be receiving a new opponent for UFC 200 and I’m sure they won’t be the headliners. We’ll have to stay tuned to see if McGregor is bluffing or if this really is the end of the Notorious Conor Mcgregor.
Aint no way a guy that has dedicated his life to this art can walk away from the sport on a loss to Nate. He just needs a break probably.
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa