Coach confirms Conor McGregor is 'retired' from UFC, MMA
Fight fans believing it's only a matter of time before former two-division champion Conor McGregor comes out of his latest " retirement" whenever UFC boss Dana White presents the outspoken Irishman with a financially-pleasing deal may not want to speak with McGregor's coach about the situation.
As noted by Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, longtime McGregor coach John Kavanagh discussed his fighter's latest sabbatical from the Octagon during an Instagram Live session and said that, as far as he knows, the soon-to-be 32-year-old has hung his gloves up for good.
(Video contains NSFW language)
“Is Conor retired? Yes, he is as far as I can tell,” Kavanagh answered when asked about McGregor's status. "That’s what he said, isn’t it?”
When asked by a fan to persuade McGregor to resume fighting as soon as possible, Kavanagh made it clear that any such decision must come from the UFC's first champ-champ.
"I can’t convince Conor to do sh--," Kavanagh said while chuckling. “Conor will tell Conor what he’s gonna do.
“And who knows, who knows what’s going to happen in the future? But as for now, he’s retired.”
McGregor's third retirement began earlier this month after White declared that undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will next defend that title versus interim champ Justin Gaethje, and that welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is facing Gilbert Burns at the UFC 251 show held on Fight Island on July 11.
Somewhat conveniently for all involved, McGregor's current break comes during the coronavirus pandemic when fans can't attend shows, and the UFC can't cash-in on gate revenues.
With cases rising and spiking throughout the United States, though, McGregor and White may both need to be realistic about the state of the sport if "The Notorious" one is to return to the cage this year.
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