CONOR McGREGOR has confirmed that he has not in fact retired from MMA and is still willing to fight at UFC 200, but only under the right terms.
The Dubliner sparked headlines worldwide on Tuesday by posting a message on Twitter saying he had “decided to retire young” despite being scheduled for a re-match with Nate Diaz.
McGregor, who suffered a shock loss to Diaz in his last fight, was subsequently dropped as the headline attraction at the UFC’s event in Las Vegas on July 9 for failing to fulfil media obligations.
After days of giving fans the silent treatment, the ‘Notorious’ McGregor has now moved to clear up the matter in a lengthy statement on Facebook.
Appearing to address organisers at the UFC – MMA’s premier division of fighters – McGregor suggests he’s earned the right to focus on his training rather than travel all over the world to promote fights.
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.
…
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'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.
…
For the record also -
For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations -
I AM NOT RETIRED.
Read McGregor’s statement in full below:
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