Dana White Has A Perfectly Reasonable Explanation For Pulling Conor McGregor From UFC 200

Conor McGregor announced his retirement on Twitter earlier today, and it looks like he pulled the plug on his career because Dana White pulled him from UFC 200 when McGregor didn’t want to promote the show. Fighters often have a bevy of press conferences before fight week rolls around, and UFC 200 was going to be the biggest event since UFC 100, or ever. So McGregor simply had to be present for the commercials, the media, etc.

But now that’s all over, because McGregor is in Iceland, and didn’t want to make the trip. The rematch with Nate Diaz, which he was obsessing over, which he wanted above everything, clearly wasn’t that important to him. Right? Or is he making a more important stand. Maybe McGregor felt like he wasn’t being paid enough for all of the media he’d be doing in addition to the fight.

White, for his part, was unusually calm in a moment that could gut the current UFC.

“We pulled Conor McGregor from UFC 200 and we’re working on other fights right now,” White said. “Conor did not want to come to Las Vegas and film the commercial and be a part of the marketing. He’s in Iceland training.

“Is Conor retiring? Only he can answer that question. I don’t know.”

Money, clearly had something to do with his position.

Is this purely a negotiating tactic for McGregor? Or does he believe that he’s being underpaid for what he brings to the UFC, which are record ratings and gates. This would be an unprecedented move in MMA and combat sports in general. We are currently experiencing a climate in which athletes are retiring before they get injured, or suffer any long-term damage to their bodies. This isn’t completely shocking, but what would be shocking is if this retirement sticks for the long haul.

McGregor is the biggest star in combat sports, and has all of Ireland behind him. This would be like Floyd Mayweather Jr. retiring in 2010, or Mike Tyson hanging up the gloves in 1988.

(Via ESPN)