In a short Tweet to his 1.46 million followers, UFC megastar “The Notorious” Conor McGregor may have turned the mixed martial arts world on its head by indicating he is retiring ahead of his UFC 200 rematch with Nate Diaz.
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
The cryptic message – which did not indicate a particular date, reason or anything else other than his plan to leave young and thank the world for the money he earned.
Some are calling the message a hoax, a trolling or an account hack, but the reaction appears similar for just about everyone: disbelief.
McGregor took the MMA world by storm since making his UFC debut in 2013, earning five Performance of the Night honors during his incredible UFC winning streak. During his unbeaten run at UFC McGregor finished all but one of his fights, recorded six KOs and won the undisputed UFC Featherweight title over Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds by KO.
“The Notorious” McGregor fought Nate Diaz at UFC 196, succumbing to a second round rear-naked choke to the veteran fighter for his first MMA loss since 2010. The two are scheduled for a July 9 rematch at UFC 200: McGregor vs Diaz 2.
Whether or not McGregor truly is retiring, the immediate reaction was more than enough to indicate how much he’ll be missed if/when he does leave the sport for good.
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