LONDON: Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has announced his retirement for the third time in four years.
McGregor abruptly made his latest dubious declaration Sunday morning via his official twitter handle.
McGregor posted on his Twitter handle: “Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting.
“Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!”
The 31-year-old Irish superstar revitalized his combat sports career in January with an impressive first-round stoppage of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246 and remains the UFC’s brightest star and biggest financial draw.
Not surprisingly, McGregor did not inform UFC president Dana White about his sudden decision. White had said McGregor was next in line for a title shot at the winner of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s bout with Justin Gaethje this summer, AP reports.
Meanwhile, undefeated professional boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather slammed McGregor’s decision to end his career but warned him that if he ever decides to return, he will be waiting to ‘punish him’ again. The American had defeated McGregor in the 10th round of a boxing match in 2017.
McGregor uploaded a photo of a cake on his Instagram account and it had a message engraved which read: “Happy retirement daddy”.
On this photo, Mayweather replied: “If I’m not mistaken, didn’t you tell Mike Tyson you could beat me if we fought a second time? Now you’re quitting! I thought you wanted to beat the best? Well, if you decide to come back, I will be waiting to punish you again.”
This is not the first time McGregor has decided to quit fighting as he had earlier tweeted twice about retirement, both times when he was involved in arguments with the UFC.
