How Death, Money & Mayweather Possibly Influenced Conor McGregor’s Retirement

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media. The MMA world was rocked on Tuesday by the news that Conor McGregor will not be competing at UFC 200, but the reasons for McGregor’s departure are extraordinarily complicated. The truth lies somewhere in between the featherweight titlist’s retirement tweet and UFC President Dana White’s insistence that McGregor was pulled from the event for refusing to participate in pre-fight promotional activities. There is a rumor circulating that McGregor demanded $10 million to fight Nate Diaz on July 9 and was rejected by the UFC. My theory — and this is 100-percent speculation — is that this is, indirectly, the fault of Floyd Mayweather Jr. It sounds like a reach, but look at the entirety of the situation rather than a brief tweet and a response from the UFC head determined to protect his company’s brand. For months, there have been rumors about tension between the UFC and McGregor. Although nothing has ever been confirmed, it’s evident that McGregor recognized his value to the UFC and has sought to leverage it into bigger paydays. He’s constantly talked about his long-term health and has alluded to a plan of winning world titles, making a lot of money and taking it all back to Ireland. Never has he made this about being the best in the world for an extraordinarily long time. For McGregor, it’s always been about the money and wasting little time getting to it.UFC 200 has long been hyped by the promotion as a mega-event, one which would do a high gate and huge pay-per-view numbers. It is very likely that McGregor’s asking price was higher than any fighter before him. Some may say that he’s greedy, but McGregor’s business acumen is sharp when it comes to the fight game. He pays close attention to PPV and gate numbers. He also knows how imperative it is for him to be entertaining both in and outside of the Octagon. He also has kept a close eye on Mayweather — but more on that later. McGregor’s success has translated into higher buy rates for UFC events that he is headlining. He currently holds the three highest gates for a U.S. fight in UFC history, with UFC 194 at $10.1 …

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