McGregor McRetires? No. But let's talk about him anyway.

[wandshogun09]

McGregor is shooting himself in the foot here by lying about the fight being back on - he'll risk becoming like Chael - someone who nobody believes.

That's my fear with it as well.

 

MMA fans will forgive a lot. And Chael is the perfect example, really. He'd chat loads of shit and rarely back it up in the cage - many fans still loved him. Failed drug tests - many fans still loved him. Money laundering shady character outside the cage - many fans still loved him.

 

But when he started his own podcast and started flat out making shit up, I can only assume to keep himself in the headlines on MMA sites post-retirement, and his own fanbase started feeling burned and lied to by him, that's what's done Chael and the credibility of pretty much anything he says is shot now. It's mad. Chael's such a good speaker you'd think he'd be perfect to front a podcast. He was great on Rogan's a few years ago. But left to his own devices he's exposed himself as a silly bullshitter who's word you can't trust.

 

If Conor does end up not fighting again, then maybe he doesn't care. And if he does fight again and gets more money then fucks off, he might care even less what people think of him. Fair enough. But if he wants to stick around then he might want to stop tweeting things that aren't true. I don't think it'll harm him too much now, unless he continues making a habit of it. But it's not a good look and he risks making himself look like someone you can't believe and alienating some of his fanbase in the process. He's treading the line at the minute for me.

[FUM]

I agree that it was the wrong move to post that tweet this morning. While I agree with his reasons, he has already let a lot of people who have booked down once. To knowingly let them down again is a dick move.

[ColinBollocks]

With three months to go and what not it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. As much as Dana will do the "we're all pals, really" routine, anybody that has followed UFC for a few years knows Dana White can be an ubercunt, should you dare step out of line. Granted, they've never had a Conor before, but these things rarely end well for a fighter when they keep prodding Dana. I doubt McGregor is going away either.

 

Like a shit Austin v McMahon, this.

[David]

I'm not sure there'll be all that much of an issue really, providing they can come to an agreement on future media duties.

 

If Conor sticks to his guns that he's not doing as much media in future without a guaranteed payment from the company to make it worth his while he may face some issues. Although, if he goes about it in the right way in future then there's every chance the company will meet him halfway in future.

 

Then again, he may make those demands and the UFC could say "fuck you son, you'll fight when you're ready to play ball", which is a terrible situation for everyone.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

Its Meltzer so take what you will but he says this is Conor vs Lorenzo. The two had a huge blow up before the retirement tweet.

 

Could be why Dana is not in pissed of, bury the fighter mode atm.

[ColinBollocks]

Logically, UFC and McGregor should see the bigger picture, but this is Dana White and he loves being a spiteful arse.

[Widdy85]

Only spiteful thing he's done is say Conor won't fight in NYC. Conor made it clear he wants East Coast or Ireland next.

 

The whole being off UFC 200 is all on Conor.

[David]

Logically, UFC and McGregor should see the bigger picture, but this is Dana White and he loves being a spiteful arse.

 

If only Conor had done what he does best, and do the media appearances. Silly man.

[Ghostface1982]

I'm still not convinced the full thing isn't some elaborate publicity stunt.

[lambyUK]

John Kavanagh on the mma hour yesterday. He's on first. You get to hear a lot more about the events that led to this such as when they found out about the vegas press conference, the dialogue between the parties etc etc.

 

[Egg Shen]

cheers for that, i'll have a listen.

[Supremo]

I haven't listened to the whole interview with Kavanagh yet (hilariously, I overheard my fiancé listening to it this morning, that poor girl is officially on the McGregor bandwagon), but the one thing that struck me was John reporting how seriously Conor is taking his training this time. Waking up at 7:45am three months out is a far cry from how people used to report on his camps. You can definitely understand how that obsession would result in him not wanting to fly around the world.

 

I hope they just book the fight for UFC 201 or 202 because the most intriguing thing about all of this is whether Conor can beat Nate at 170 if he's truly focussed and willing to live up to his potential.

[David]

If he sorts out his issues with Lorenzo and Dana I can see this fight being booked for 201 or 202, leaving Conor in a good place to then defend his title against the winner of Aldo/Edgar afterwards.

[Carbomb]

That Twitter move was stupid, though. I get why he did it, but it's not a good way to behave, Zuffa or not. He's come out of this looking a bit petulant and sneaky, in my opinion.

 

That doesn't mean I'm off the Conor bandwagon, though. I've just decided to sit by a window in case he farts again.

[ColinBollocks]

Yeah, the last tweet sort of undone his brilliant Facebook retort. He's clearly trying to pressure UFC, so he should really stick to posting about wanting the fight so bad, rather than fabricating announcements that it's happening.

 

Didn't Dana say Conor's next fight is against Aldo or Edgar? Seems the most understated way to be spiteful and punish him is to not give him the fight he craves the most.