Conor McGregor retires from UFC?

[Jeremie Boop]

New tweet from Conor:

Conor McGregor
8 minuten ·
I am just trying to do my job and fight here.
I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote.
I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting.
There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop.
50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photo shoots, and at the end of it all I'm left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this.
Nothing else was going through my mind.
It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life.
Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Conneticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a **** morning show did not get me this life.
Talking to some lady that deep down doesn't give a **** about what I'm doing, but just wants some sound bites so she can maybe get her little tight ass a nice raise, and I'm cool with that too, I've been giving you all raises. But I need to focus on me now.
I'm coming for my revenge here.
I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep.
With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight.
I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again.
I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment.
But it was denied.
There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me.
So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them.
And all with one tweet.
Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.
I must isolate myself now.
I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time.
I can not dance for you this time.
It is time for the other monkeys to dance. I've danced us all the way here.
Nate's little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it.
He came in with no shit to do that last one. I'd already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before RDA pulled out.
Maybe I'll hit Cabo this time and skull some shots pre-fight with no obligation.
I'm doing what I need for me now.
It is time to be selfish with my training again. It is the only way.
I feel the $400million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside 8 months, is enough to get me this slight leeway.
I am still ready to go for UFC 200.
I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions.
If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don't know what to say.
For the record also -
For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations -
I AM NOT RETIRED.

Sounds like he just doesn't want to do all the promotional stuff. I can't say that I really blame him considering how much he needs to work on to have a chance at beating Nate Diaz, but it's what he signed on for. He already knew what would be expected of him when he signed up for the fight. Maybe they'll come to an agreement and he'll be able to fight at 200 still. If not, then I don't think I'll really mind. I thought the immediate rematch with Diaz instead of a title defense was pretty stupid anyway.

 

[freshmanUTA]

13 minutes ago, Jeremie Boop said:

New tweet from Conor:

Conor McGregor
8 minuten ·
I am just trying to do my job and fight here.
I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote.
I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting.
There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop.
50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photo shoots, and at the end of it all I'm left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this.
Nothing else was going through my mind.
It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life.
Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Conneticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a **** morning show did not get me this life.
Talking to some lady that deep down doesn't give a **** about what I'm doing, but just wants some sound bites so she can maybe get her little tight ass a nice raise, and I'm cool with that too, I've been giving you all raises. But I need to focus on me now.
I'm coming for my revenge here.
I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep.
With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight.
I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again.
I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment.
But it was denied.
There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me.
So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them.
And all with one tweet.
Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.
I must isolate myself now.
I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time.
I can not dance for you this time.
It is time for the other monkeys to dance. I've danced us all the way here.
Nate's little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it.
He came in with no shit to do that last one. I'd already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before RDA pulled out.
Maybe I'll hit Cabo this time and skull some shots pre-fight with no obligation.
I'm doing what I need for me now.
It is time to be selfish with my training again. It is the only way.
I feel the $400million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside 8 months, is enough to get me this slight leeway.
I am still ready to go for UFC 200.
I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions.
If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don't know what to say.
For the record also -
For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations -
I AM NOT RETIRED.

Sounds like he just doesn't want to do all the promotional stuff. I can't say that I really blame him considering how much he needs to work on to have a chance at beating Nate Diaz, but it's what he signed on for. He already knew what would be expected of him when he signed up for the fight. Maybe they'll come to an agreement and he'll be able to fight at 200 still. If not, then I don't think I'll really mind. I thought the immediate rematch with Diaz instead of a title defense was pretty stupid anyway.

 

Thanks for posting this.

[Jeremie Boop]

Looks like the fight is officially pulled and McGregor was set to make $10 million for the fight, according to the article it looked like the UFC was really trying everything to acommodate him with special travel and training arrangements. Also the article states that his next fight, should one actually happen, will be a title defense/unification bout.

http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/conor-mcgregor-10-million-ufc-officially-calls-off-fight/

[newtogolf]

Sadly, this is what happens when employees start to believe they are irreplaceable and are entitled to special treatment.  I don't believe Conor is wrong for wanting to focus on training to avenge his loss but he didn't handle it properly.  

Fighters know that part of their contract payment is for fight promotion, especially for a main event.  I'm sure if Conor had reached out to Dana they could have worked out something that was amicable for both parties but instead it seems Conor flat out refused to promote the fight despite all the accommodations the UFC was willing to make for him.  

Conor placed the UFC in a position where they had no choice but to cancel the fight.  Fighters can't decide whether or not they want to do fight promotion and if they let Conor get away with it, it's just a matter of time before others challenge the UFC on their contract obligations.

Everyone loses, Conor loses $10M, Nate loses his big pay day, the UFC loses a huge PPV audience and the fans miss out on a fight we all wanted to see, very sad.  

[Gunther]

Thoughts on Diaz MacGregor 2?  

Can't see Conor winning.  He's been training with big sparring partners but as much as I can't stand the Diaz brothers, they are good and big.  Too much JJ for Conor to withstand.  Don't think he'll be able to stay on his feet and if not, Diaz wins.  Maybe if they brought it down to 155 MacGregor would have a shot but not at 170.

Anyway, should be a fun fight.  Pulling for Notorious but preparing for a Diaz W.

[newtogolf]

I'm not sure Conor has power to KO Diaz and the longer the fight goes, the more it benefits Nate.  The Diaz brothers don't look like they hit hard but over time their punches seem to take a cumulative toll on their opponents.  

Conor is great at lighter weight classes because he has height, reach and power advantage, at 170 he's just another fighter.  Nate wins in 4th round.  

[Jeremie Boop]

I'm hoping he gets beat. It feels weird to have that sort of thought because I usually want one person to win, but in this case it's not about his opponent winning it's just that I want him to lose. I think he's a good fighter, but I'm just tired of the way he acts like he's the god of all fighters. I think he's done after he loses tonight, he can't really go back to 145 after working his weight up to fight at 170 I don't think. To be honest, he was pretty big for a 145'r anyway because he looked like death at weigh ins.

[Jeremie Boop]

Meh... crap decision in my opinion. BUT, that's what happens when you let it go to the judges. Conor ran/walked away for 2 1/2 rounds. Kind of lends credence to what people were saying about them *the UFC* pushing for a trilogy of fights between the two.

[Gunther]

28 minutes ago, Jeremie Boop said:

Meh... crap decision in my opinion. BUT, that's what happens when you let it go to the judges. Conor ran/walked away for 2 1/2 rounds. Kind of lends credence to what people were saying about them *the UFC* pushing for a trilogy of fights between the two.

I actually didn't watch but saw a little of the post-fight, none of those guys seemed to think it was a bad decision.  3 knockdowns early then the 4th round decided it, evidently.  2 judges gave Conor round 2 and 1 called it even.  Close fight, Diaz too big for Conor to knock out.

Dunno what they've worked out w the UFC but I'm not interested in another between these 2.  I'd rather Conor go down to 155, pick up the LW belt then go back and defend FW.  WW too big for him.

[newtogolf]

9 hours ago, Jeremie Boop said:

Meh... crap decision in my opinion. BUT, that's what happens when you let it go to the judges. Conor ran/walked away for 2 1/2 rounds. Kind of lends credence to what people were saying about them *the UFC* pushing for a trilogy of fights between the two.

I've watched MMA and boxing long enough to know that you can't let judges decide the outcome.  I thought Conor won rounds 1 and 2, Diaz won 3 and 5 and the 4th round could have gone either way.  In close decisions the benefit of the doubt usually goes to the "champion" which in this case should have been Diaz.  I watched the fight with my son and told him that Conor would win because judges don't understand MMA scoring and if you look at Diaz's face it appears he lost the fight.  

The UFC, Diaz and Conor greatly benefit financially from a 3rd match so none of them are going to complain too loudly that they get to another huge pay day for a fight that might have never taken place if Aldo didn't pull out.  

Dana did say that the trilogy wouldn't be Conor's next fight that he expects him to defend the belt at 145 before he fights Diaz.  My guess is Conor vacates the belt at 145 (since no one seems that excited about seeing him fight Aldo again), moves up to 155, wins the belt at 155 and then challenges Diaz to come down to 155 for a title shot.  

[Jeremie Boop]

18 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

I've watched MMA and boxing long enough to know that you can't let judges decide the outcome.  I thought Conor won rounds 1 and 2, Diaz won 3 and 5 and the 4th round could have gone either way.  In close decisions the benefit of the doubt usually goes to the "champion" which in this case should have been Diaz.  I watched the fight with my son and told him that Conor would win because judges don't understand MMA scoring and if you look at Diaz's face it appears he lost the fight.  

The UFC, Diaz and Conor greatly benefit financially from a 3rd match so none of them are going to complain too loudly that they get to another huge pay day for a fight that might have never taken place if Aldo didn't pull out.  

Dana did say that the trilogy wouldn't be Conor's next fight that he expects him to defend the belt at 145 before he fights Diaz.  My guess is Conor vacates the belt at 145 (since no one seems that excited about seeing him fight Aldo again), moves up to 155, wins the belt at 155 and then challenges Diaz to come down to 155 for a title shot.  

I can't disagree with anything you said here except I don't necessarily believe that Conor can win the 155 belt. He barely beat Diaz and Diaz is a middle of the pack 155 fighter.

[JetFan1983]

Yea... I feel like it was a Rocky-esque kind of loss for Diaz, who won the final three rounds IMO. If there was a sixth round, Diaz wins at least by decision, and then probably submission if not decision... possibly even knock out, but that's less likely than the other two possibilities. 

Great fight though. It really could've gone either way. I think giving the win to Connor is fine and sets up McGregor-Diaz III nicely, so for entertainment purposes, the right fighter won. 

But yea, @newtogolf I don't claim to be an expert on professional fighting, but the scoring seemed off to me as well.

[TN94z]

I actually had Diaz winning 3 rounds to 2 but could see it going either way as well. At least we will get to see a 3rd fight. Although, it will be a while. With the broken foot and Dana saying that Conor's next fight will be to defend the belt, we won't see the 3rd fight for some time now. I actually believe Conor can win the 155 belt. DIaz is a much better fighter at 170 than 155 and Conor was dominating the first fight and did very well against the bigger fighter in the rematch. As long as Conor can keep his fights on the feet against the BJJ guys, he will be hard to match on the feet...in my opinion.

[freshmanUTA]

5 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I've watched MMA and boxing long enough to know that you can't let judges decide the outcome.  I thought Conor won rounds 1 and 2, Diaz won 3 and 5 and the 4th round could have gone either way.  In close decisions the benefit of the doubt usually goes to the "champion" which in this case should have been Diaz.  I watched the fight with my son and told him that Conor would win because judges don't understand MMA scoring and if you look at Diaz's face it appears he lost the fight.  

The UFC, Diaz and Conor greatly benefit financially from a 3rd match so none of them are going to complain too loudly that they get to another huge pay day for a fight that might have never taken place if Aldo didn't pull out.  

Dana did say that the trilogy wouldn't be Conor's next fight that he expects him to defend the belt at 145 before he fights Diaz.  My guess is Conor vacates the belt at 145 (since no one seems that excited about seeing him fight Aldo again), moves up to 155, wins the belt at 155 and then challenges Diaz to come down to 155 for a title shot.  

Someone finally said it. Diaz landed more strikes total, more significant strikes, and had 5 whole minutes longer in control of McGregor. on top of that, he had a takedown, which scores higher than a knockdown any day.

 

and one of McGregors "knockdowns" was Diaz falling on purpose to bait McGregor to the ground, which didn't work.

[Grinde6]

I didn't get to watch the fight live which is pretty upsetting, but from everything I have read, and what I have seen of the fight McGregor was the correct decision.  Not only the judges of the fight, but 14/19 of the media outlets scoring the fight had it for McGregor, 1 had it for Diaz, and 4 had it a draw...I think its safe to say they picked the right winner and McGregor didn't win just to set up a 3rd fight..

[Gunther]

47 minutes ago, Grinde6 said:

I didn't get to watch the fight live which is pretty upsetting, but from everything I have read, and what I have seen of the fight McGregor was the correct decision.  Not only the judges of the fight, but 14/19 of the media outlets scoring the fight had it for McGregor, 1 had it for Diaz, and 4 had it a draw...I think its safe to say they picked the right winner and McGregor didn't win just to set up a 3rd fight..

Yes, I agree, and more importantly, Dana White had it 3-2 MacGregor, lol.

I think it came down to the 2nd round, Conor started strong, Diaz ended strong, which usually wins a round but because there was a knockdown, all 3 judges and many of the experts gave it to Mac.  Interesting that the one judge gave Diaz a 10-8 in the 3rd.

I found it funny that Diaz was crowing about MacGregor running the whole fight when his face looked like raw hamburger.

[newtogolf]

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

Yes, I agree, and more importantly, Dana White had it 3-2 MacGregor, lol.

I think it came down to the 2nd round, Conor started strong, Diaz ended strong, which usually wins a round but because there was a knockdown, all 3 judges and many of the experts gave it to Mac.  Interesting that the one judge gave Diaz a 10-8 in the 3rd.

I found it funny that Diaz was crowing about MacGregor running the whole fight when his face looked like raw hamburger.

I thought Conor won 1&2, Diaz won 3&5 and 4 was up for grabs with a slight edge to Conor.  The Diaz brothers bleed and show facial bruising very easily, it's really not a reflection of how much punishment Nate took.  

Nick Diaz actually had surgery to remove scar tissue around his eyes because the skin in that area would split wide open if you breathed on it too heavy.  

Overall I have no issue with the decision though in close fights I'd expect the benefit of the doubt to go to Diaz (given results of last fight) and it clearly didn't.  

[TN94z]

2 hours ago, Gunther said:

I found it funny that Diaz was crowing about MacGregor running the whole fight when his face looked like raw hamburger.

The Diaz brothers are known for scar tissue which leads to looking like that in most of their fights. Conor is like BJ Penn in that he rarely shows damage. It's hard to judge anything by their post fight faces.

I like both guys so I was glad just to see it go the distance and that it was a good fight.