To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Conor McGregor Announces Retirement From Fighting

Conor McGregor Announces Retirement From Fighting

The MMA star thanked fans 'for the memories'

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor has announced his retirement from fighting.

Posting on Twitter, he wrote:

The news may come as a bit of a shock to fans, with many expecting a rematch with rival Khabib Nurmagomedov at some point in the future.

UFC president Dana White said he hadn't talked to McGregor about his retirement, adding that the first he knew about it was when someone showed him the announcement.

White told press in Las Vegas: "That's Conor. You know how Conor works. That's how he does things."

He went on to say: "Nobody is pressuring anybody to fight. And if Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement - you should absolutely do it.

"And I love Conor... There's a handful of people that have made this really fun for me. And he's one of them."

The 31-year-old won his last bout, at UFC 249 in January, against Donald Cerrone - knocking him out in just 40 seconds.

Speaking after the fight, McGregor said: "I'm so happy. Who's going up and down divisions and stopping people like that?! The UFC can strip fighters [belts] and give other fighters make-believe belts in order to replicate my champ-champ status but they can't give knockout victories across multiple weight divisions.

PA

"Etch my name in history one more time. For the Irish people, for my ma back home... I love ya to bits, I'm coming home with the win!

"I made history here tonight, I set another record. I'm the first fighter in UFC history to secure knockouts at featherweight, lightweight and now welterweight so I'm very proud of that.

"Donald holds the record for the most head-kick knockouts so I'm so happy to get him there with a head-kick myself."

The impressive win had led many to speculate about who he would fight next, with Nurmagomedov, Anderson Silva and Justin Gaethje all rumoured to be in line to fight the Irishman, but now it seems as though McGregor has put all those rumours to bed.

Of course, this isn't the first time McGregor has said he'll be hanging up his gloves - in fact it's the third time in four years he's made the announcement before being tempted back for a fight, so who knows? We may see him back in the octagon (or maybe even the boxing ring) in the future.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Conor Mcgregor