Conor McGregor's 'retirement' is giving off 'Fade To Black'-era Jay Z vibes
On Tuesday, Conor McGregor tweeted, and the Internet exploded like the White House in "Independence Day":
It's been 24 hours, and that tweet has already been retweeted over 150,000 times. There's probably 10,000 more quote tweets from people wondering aloud about McGregor's retirement in ALL CAPS with a bunch of extra letters and multiple question marks and exclamation points. Mostly because it doesn't seem real or final.
He was set to redeem himself at UFC 200 with a rematch against actual Terminator Nate Diaz, and stood to make a killing regardless of the result. So, what's going on here? Did McGregor just suddenly start hating money? Moreover, is there any actual way that someone who enjoys the spotlight as much as he does could just walk away from it?
Does anyone actually believe McGregor is retiring?
— Brett Smiley (@brettsmiley) April 20, 2016
A guy who enjoys the spotlight this much is not retiring yet. pic.twitter.com/lgrErg0bIm
There were similar questions being lobbed around about Jay Z in 2003 after "The Black Album" came out. Of course, "Unfinished Business" arrived a year later and we got the perfectly-adequate-but-ultimately-forgettable "Kingdom Come" in 2006. But after the farewell show at Madison Square Garden that would eventually be the "Fade to Black" DVD, for a couple of months there, that was really it.
He'd finally, literally gone from Marcy to Madison Square, and with no more worlds to conquer, Jay Z was taking his two-sizes-too-big buttondown, his Yankee hat, and going "somewhere nice where no mosquitoes at" with his soon-to-be wife, Beyonce.
And it was impossible to believe! "The Black Album" was too good! Pharrell was telling the truth-- "Allure" sounds like lounging on a yacht in the South of France in the final scene of a flashy caper film. "Dirt Off Your Shoulders" is both a slapper and a banger, still, today. "My 1st Song," "Lucifer," "Public Service Announcement"-- no shot he was leaving while he was this hot. That's how Mase screwed up.
You know the story: Jay un-retired and went on to release two collaborative studio albums and four solo ones, including his last effort, "Magna Carta Holy Grail," which we probably hyped way more than we should have.
It's hard to compare their bodies of work but McGregor recently treated long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo like a pinata and knocked him out in 13 seconds. McGregor was so bored afterwards that he decided to jump two weight classes for a new challenge. Granted, it didn't work out so well, but still, is this really it? Is it really over?
This can't be life.
Correction: A previous version of this story had a short description of the arc of Jon Jones' career, not Conor McGregor's.
