UFC star Conor McGregor has been officially pulled back from fighting in the UFC's main event against Nate Diaz, the UFC 200, reports said today. Only hours earlier, McGregor took to Twitter and announced his retirement from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
It was UFC's president Dana White who made the cancellation of the Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz fight officially on ESPN's SportsCenter, Yahoo! Sports reports. McGregor was supposed to fight Diaz at the UFC 200 on July.
"Well, what's happened is, we've pulled Conor McGregor from UFC 200," White said. "And we're working on other fights right now," White added.
White said that Conor McGregor did not want to come to Las Vegas to film a commercial or to take part in any other marketing strategy that the UFC had. White also told SportsCenter that McGregor is now training in Iceland.
UFC President Dana White explains why McGregor has been pulled from #UFC200. https://t.co/Fm7XfjrOYY
— UFC (@ufc) April 20, 2016
White told SportsCenter that the only other time this happened in the UFC was when Nick Diaz failed to come to his UFC press conference for his fight with Georges St-Pierre. He was also pulled back from the fight. White added that only Conor McGregor can confirm if he is actually retiring from the UFC.
In his tweet, Irish UFC star Conor McGregor said that he "decided to retire young." There was no confirmation of the matter as both White and McGregor's UFC manager Audie Attar could not be reached for comment.
I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later. — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
Conor McGregor's UFC coach, John Kavanagh, had a tweet of his own earlier in the day, seemingly matching his UFC protégé's sentiments. "Well was fun while it lasted," Kavanagh said.
Well was fun while it lasted
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) April 19, 2016
White also told SportsCenter that the UFC is in the process of securing another fight for Diaz at the UFC 200. White said that a new high-profile bout is being put together for the UFC 200. Only last month, Diaz earned the honor of being the only man to beat Conor McGregor in the UFC, according to BBC Sports.
Despite the cancellation of Conor McGregor's fight in UFC 200, White said on SportsCenter that they are still on good terms, according to Yahoo! Sports. White however stressed that taking part in promotions was part of being a fighter in the UFC.
"Obviously, we still have a good relationship with Conor," White said. "I respect Conor as a fighter and I like him as a person. [But] you can't decide not to show up to these things. You have to do it. We were in constant communication back and forth between his manager and myself."
