Conor McGregor tweeted Tuesday he was retiring from MMA.
I have decided to retire young.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.
At first, many people didn't think McGregor was serious. They thought maybe it was a late April Fool's Day joke. As of right now, it is not. Multiple sources have confirmed to Sporting News that McGregor is being serious and his announcement isn't a hoax. The UFC has not responded to Sporting News' requests for comment.
MORE: Conor McGregor's most notorious moments
McGregor is was scheduled to headline UFC 200 in a rematch against Nate Diaz, which is set to be the biggest event in 2016. (UPDATE: The UFC announced Tuesday evening it has pulled McGregor from the fight after McGregor "informed UFC officials that he would not participate in any promotional activities, including a commercial shoot and press conferences.")
Why would the featherweight champion and the biggest star in the sport leave at the height of his popularity? Some possible reasons:
— He came from nothing when he made his UFC debut in April 2012 against Marcus Brimage. He was collecting welfare checks the week before his debut. Now he has millions of dollars in the bank and the world at his feet.
— Athletes in contact sports are retiring young and at the top of their games. The NFL's best wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, retired last month at age 30. Adrian Coxson, a rookie wide receiver for the Packers, retired at 24. Anthony Davis, 49ers offensive lineman, quit at age 25. Other players have left the game at similar ages recently. McGregor is 27.
STEELE: J.J. Watt disrespected players with tough-guy stance
— The body can only take so much and fighters can only take so many shots to the head and body before they say, "I have had enough, I have enough money, I can go do something else." Pro athletes are more conscious of their bodies today, unlike in the early years of sports where they were willing to risk it all and deal with the consequences later.
On the flip side, McGregor might have made the announcement just to get more money. For his UFC 196 fight against Diaz, McGregor became the first fighter to earn a guaranteed $1 million payday. Before the fight, he told CNBC that after PPV revenue and sponsorship money come in, he would make in excess of $10 million.
MORE: McGregor defends combat sports after fighter's death
"Notorious" has the highest salary in the UFC, but the money he made at UFC 196 pales in comparison to the money Floyd Mayweather Jr. made for his last fight against Andre Berto. Mayweather made a minimum $32 million before his PPV revenue came in.
Fighters deserve to make the most money possible. They sacrifice their bodies in every training camp and when they step inside the Octagon. The UFC is a multibillion-dollar company that can afford to pay its fighters more, but with no union and not many MMA organizations in town, fighters are at the mercy of the organization.
If McGregor is serious and the retirement is permanent, this is a huge blow to the UFC. McGregor generated two of the three biggest buy rates of 2015 for his fights with Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo. The Mendes fight drew more than 850,000 PPV buys and the Aldo fight did more than 1.2 million buys. The Aldo fight also was the second-largest gate in UFC history at $10.1 million with attendance of 16,516 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The record gate is $12.1 million when 55,724 people attended UFC 129 at Rogers Centre in Toronto. McGregor was able to get his home country of Ireland to come out in droves every time he competed, which is unheard of for a fighter born outside the United States,
With Ronda Rousey possibly not returning, the biggest draw in UFC now is Jon Jones, who isn't close to McGregor's level as an attraction. Jones needs a natural rival, but other than Daniel Cormier there's no one who can make mainstream fans excited about a Jones fight.
Fans gravitate to fighters who talk a good game and can back it up in the cage. No one in the UFC and MMA does (did?) that better than McGregor. Other fighters are now taking McGregor's approach to selling a fight and beginning to draw some general interest.
McGregor set records on every level and made fans take notice of the sport in way we hadn't seen since the days of Brock Lesnar. If this is truly it, we owe him a big thank you for everything he brought to the sport. He was a one of a kind.
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, The Fight Club Chicago, and subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.
