This time, Dana White is actually buying Conor McGregor’s retirement.
While McGregor was met with skepticism when he announced his latest retirement on June 6, White appears to be a believer.
“No (contact with McGregor). Conor McGregor is retired,” the UFC president told ESPN on Saturday after UFC on ESPN 11 in Las Vegas.
McGregor has announced his retirement twice before, only to come back and fight. White seemed to see right through the one in April of 2019, vowing that McGregor would fight again and he was just doing it for leverage.
Sure enough, the Irish star came back to fight on January 18, 2020 and beat Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone by technical knockout in 40 seconds.
McGregor had also stepped away briefly in 2016, only to be fighting again a few months later.
But this time could be different, at least according to White.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor told ESPN after announcing his latest retirement. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me. There’s just no buzz for me.”