McGregor Is Retiring. again

McGregor has announced on his twitter account that he is retiring from the sport. No details were given about his decision. He simply stated, "I've decided to retire from fighting".

McGregor, a two division UFC champion, fought last in January of this year.  He defeated Donald Cerrone via TKO within 40 seconds of the fight. It was his first fight since October 2018 when he lost in the 4th via neck crank to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

His retirement announcement comes as a shock, considering that in May he placed himself as second in the list of Greatest Fighters of All Time within the UFC. He also said that eventually he would take Anderson Silva's  #1 position.

Let's not forget that Conor has "retired" before.  In April of 2016 he tweeted "I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese.  Catch ya's later. That was a month after he lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 196. Then again in March 2019, he tweeted "Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as “Mixed Martial Art” today."

After Jon Jones and Masvidal have shown discontent with their contracts, McGregor's retirement could be a strategy to get more money.  He is after all, the highest paid fighter. His announcement couldn't come at a worst time for the organization.  It could move the UFC to reconsider their relationship to fighters.

Masvidal has been outspoken about the matter. “Basically, it’s not that I’m asking for more money, it’s that I’m asking for a bigger revenue share of what we bring in,” Masvidal tweeted. “I’ve got a lot of questions, and one of them is NBA, NHL, baseball, they make, I think, 50 percent with the players of what the organization brings in." He continued:  “Football, I think it’s 47 percent. Mine is like 18 percent. So I have these questions in my mind: Is it to put the cage up costs so much? The setup? What is it so much?”

In a previous article we talked about Masvidal and Jones frustration with the organization. We noted that more voices were needed to make a change within the UFC. Well, McGregor could be that voice. There is no bigger voice in the UFC today. Let's hope he does it as a collective effort to benefit his fellow fighters.