What is going on with Conor McGregor's 'retirement'?
Conor McGregor dropped a bombshell Tuesday with his tweet that he's "decided to retire young", and the UFC doubled down on the drama by announcing that its superstar fighter has been pulled from the main event of UFC 200.
Dana White announced the decision and said it was made after McGregor declared he wouldn't do any promotional work for the July 9 event.
Sitting w Dana "nobody is exempt from promoting their fights. We had to pull Conor from fight." pic.twitter.com/PAbnuJfvYz
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) April 20, 2016
The fan reaction around the world then shifted gears from "Is this for real?" to "What the heck happened?" And there were a million theories. So what's going on with his apparent retirement? Here are some of the possible explanations.
Naturally, the most likely explanation involved the most obvious thing: money. We know there was some dispute over his promotional obligations, something extra cash might have been able to remedy. Even if not, this incident surely raises his profile even more if and when he does return to the Octagon. "Comeback" fight, anyone?
After reaching the height of the sport, perhaps McGregor is looking for the next challenge? He has telegraphed it before:
.@ColinCowherd has a very interesting theory about Conor McGregor's cryptic tweet. #HerdHerehttps://t.co/VKRKOqNo1v
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 19, 2016
Making sense of Dana White's decision to pull Conor McGregor from UFC 200 https://t.co/i9orUkCLjs via @YahooSports
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) April 20, 2016
One theory even pointed to McGregor's recent Twitter habits to suggest he might be looking to take his talents to the WWE.
McGregor's coach John Kavanaugh added fuel to the fire with this post of WWE legend Jimmy Hart:
"I'll walk away from this game, I'll set it ablaze and walk away and that's it" - Conor McGregor in February pic.twitter.com/YQuNxnL9ZW
— SevereMMA.com (@SevereMMA) April 19, 2016
McGregor was present last week at a fight in Ireland that led to the death of fighter Joao Carvalho, who was competing against McGregor's associate, Charlie Ward. Carvalho's death clearly rattled McGregor:
Let the rumors begin about Conor McGregor. #UFC #WWE pic.twitter.com/c4RvxegeYT
— Alex Smallz (@TheAlexSmallz) April 19, 2016
Conor McGregor retired from the UFC today. Here are 4 people he's recently followed on Twitter... #WWE pic.twitter.com/pSovQKk0c3
— Marc Jones (@BigJones24) April 19, 2016
His statements and the recency of it have given some weight to the theory that McGregor may be keeping his long-term health in mind:
Or maybe this is all just a joke and McGregor will make the big reveal in due time, though MMAFighting reported earlier Tuesday that — at least for now — it's very much real. Even if so, maybe McGregor will have a change of heart after sleeping on it.
FOX Sports has calls into McGregor’s camp and will have the details when they are made available. Stay tuned for the rest of the story.
Terrible news regarding Joao Carvalho.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 12, 2016
To see a young man doing what he loves ... https://t.co/Yy6Wj5EFKP
