The "Notorious" Conor McGregor, current UFC featherweight champion, released a statement via his Facebook on Friday, saying that he is not retiring from the game. Previously on Wednesday, McGregor left a tweet saying "I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later", which roused the rumors on the fighter's early retirement.
McGregor expressed his frustrations on appearing in pre-fight promotions and photo shoots in his statement. "I am just trying to do my job and fight here. I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote." He said.
"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. Nothing else was going through my mind. It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life."
The Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter handed his first loss to Nate Diaz in the UFC's March event and McGregor explained the distraction before the fight had taken a toll on him. He emphasized that he wants, and need to focus on his training in order to fight his revenge match against Nate Diaz in the upcoming UFC 200 event, which is scheduled three months later. He also added that he is ready to attend a scheduled press conference in New York but he wants no other distractions.
" I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions. If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don't know what to say. For the record also - For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations - I AM NOT RETIRED."
On Thursday, Dana White, the President of UFC made comments on McGregor's tweet, stating that fighters attending pre-fight promotions are a must. There was only a single incident when a fighter did not show up at the press conference and it was Nick Diaz. White pulled Diaz off the fight. However, UFC has not yet responded to McGregor's statement made on Friday.
Meanwhile, McGregor's statement sparked debates among fighters and sports fans. The "Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva, a professional fighter at UFC, criticized McGregor's attitude. Silva pointed out McGregor's behavior is unprofessional and said "McGregor is wrong. Promotion is a Part of the job."
Below is Conor McGregor's full statement
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