Conor McGregor Tweet: ‘I Have Decided To Retire Young’
UFC has gone through a growing period, like many sports, in that medical knowledge has changed the game. Many people have risked their lives playing or taking part in the sport they love, but none seem to have a more difficult history than that of action sports athletes. This includes the extreme sports and even things like pro-wrestling, but MMA seems to be the most obvious sport where athletes knowingly risk their lives in some small way.
We’ve seen many people decide to retire young over the years, most notably Barry Sanders of the NFL. His Detroit Lions brother in Calvin Johnson also decided to retire young, as he announced his retirement this year. MMA and UFC does not often see a person retire much at all, even older stars keep going longer than they should. So it should come as a surprise when anyone announces retirement from this sport. It should also come as a major surprise that one of the most popular athletes from the sport would do so.
Conor McGregor took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon and put out quite a cryptic tweet, telling the world the following.
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
Has Conor McGregor retired at the age of 27? https://t.co/0Ycq0OFVou pic.twitter.com/NloM7KkbKg
— CNN (@CNN) April 20, 2016
You can pick any athlete in the world and most would not come close to the charisma that the Notorious One possesses. He became one of the most popular athletes in the world, and at a very young age. McGregor is only 27-years-old, which means his best years are ahead of him. He could headline events for years to come and make more money than most action sports athletes in history due to his drawing power.
He claimed that he didn’t come to take part, he came to take over. He surely did so, as his numbers from his fights would make you cry if I mentioned them. Let’s just say that he can afford to do whatever he wants. However, Conor McGregor is a business man and wants people to see him as such when it comes to his career. This is not some guy who likes to hit people, this is a very intelligent man who happens to fight people for a living.
This tweet can be taken as a huge surprise, but that might just be the idea behind it. McGregor is expected to headline the UFC 200 card against Nate Diaz later this year, which is quite a big deal for the company. UFC 200 is a loaded card, and the company felt that Conor McGregor above any other athlete should be the one to headline it in a rematch from the last fight he lost. They’re not only giving him the rematch to get a win back, but they’re saying to him that they believe he is THE guy for their business.
Looking forward to whatever comes next for @TheNotoriousMMA UFC or no UFC We'll see how it all plays out soon enough pic.twitter.com/c7NdyH2k1y
— Kenney Myers (@KenneyMyers) April 20, 2016
Is Conor McGregor, knowing all of this, playing UFC to make sure they offer him the kind of pay he wants to fight? Clearly, he has the leverage. UFC cannot force him to fight for them, because he is not obligated to fight if he does not want to do so. He also knows that this is their biggest event in years and due to this, he can choose to miss it and hurt numbers. If this is a business move, it is an absolutely brilliant one. The man has it all and is easily the most marketable star in the UFC right now for the men, which means he cannot be lost business wise for UFC.
The tweet could also be truly about his retirement and nothing more. This does come right after witnessing a fight where a young man ended up dying due to injuries he sustained in the cage. Joao Carvalho died from injuries suffered during a fight earlier this month, where McGregor was in attendance to see it all go down. This can jar someone, especially someone who is knowingly going in and possibly risking the same things.
Is Conor McGregor retired? It does not really seem like he is, as the tweet is cryptic. Knowing McGregor, he does things in style. A simple tweet to the world that was not clear and lacking explanation is not normal for the Irishman. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. As of now, we know UFC is likely having a heart attack.
[Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images]
