Big news in sports today was obviously Conor McGregor, the UFC’s darling and Ireland’s pride, retiring from fighting. But why is it then that everyone took it with a pinch of salt and why, arguably, are these fake retirement announcements common generally?
Those paying attention will remember that back in 2016 McGregor announced his retirement with a classic, “I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch yas later.” The move came after McGregor got into hot water with his overlords at the UFC after he failed to do some promotional work he was contracted to do. But as we know, retire he did not.
McGregor at the time was attempting to bend the UFC to his will, as he had an agenda of his own he was eager to focus on. Part of that was fighting Nate Diaz, who the UFC would not let him fight. But given the fact that McGregor single-handedly was making the UFC more money than anything or anyone else (probably in its history), back in the 2016 the owners, the Fertita brothers, were obliged to let him have his way.
Lo and behold he came back from retirement and went on to fight two fights, one against Floyd Mayweather during his brief dalliance with boxing and the other against Khabib Nurmagomedov. He went on to be featherweight and lightweight champion. The Mayweather fight of course would go down as the highest earning fight in history.
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So what’s going on now and is Notorious back at his same ole two-step?
The reality is that he’s been training hard (if his instas are anything to go by) and does not seem in anyway ready to retire. Speculation among experts has been that the reality is that he’s attempting to strong-man the UFC into giving him another crack at Nurmagomedov in July (which is what he’s been pushing for in public appearances). And clearly the UFC has not obliged the Irishman with what he wants.
However, as many have observed, McGregor does not currently have the upperhand so is not able to pull of the 2016 stunt quite as smoothly again. UFC now belongs to Endeavor and not the Fertitta brothers, and what’s more was sold for an astounding $4bn, meaning the UFC does not need Conor – Conor needs the UFC.
