This archive report was first published on 7 June 2020.
On June 7, 2020, Conor McGregor, the two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) World Champion, announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in a Twitter message.
McGregor, nicknamed 'The Notorious', stated, 'Hey guys I've decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it's been!' He also shared a picture with his mother, Margaret, in Las Vegas, post one of his World title wins.
This is not the first time McGregor has announced his retirement. In March 2019, he said he was retiring after being battered into submission by arch-rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018. He also announced his retirement in April 2016, tweeting, 'I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later.'
However, in a recent interview with ESPN, McGregor expressed his boredom with the sport, stating, 'I'm a bit bored of the game. I'm just not excited about the game. I don't know if it's no crowd. I don't know what it is. There's just no buzz for me.'
McGregor's last appearance in the octagon was in January 2020, when he knocked out American Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone in a ruthless 40-second destruction in Las Vegas. The 31-year-old, an icon of the UFC, has a record of 22-4 and was the first UFC fighter to hold two championship belts at the same time.
