Conor McGregor is not retiring from MMA, but that does not mean his fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 200 is back on.
According to TMZ, Dana White is not putting McGregor’s rematch with Diaz back on the July 9 card. The UFC’s website still says the main event for UFC 200 is to be determined.
McGregor shocked UFC fans on Tuesday when he tweeted that he has decided to call it a career. On Thursday, the Irishman released a statement saying he has not retired and that he wishes the UFC would allow him to train more for his rematch rather than fulfilling media obligations. You can read the powerful statement here.
Sources told TMZ that UFC was willing to “move mountains” to accommodate McGregor’s training plans during the buildup to UFC 200. The organization even reportedly offered to move McGregor’s entire personal gym setup from Iceland to Las Vegas. Here’s more:
Not only did UFC offer to fly Conor to every destination on a top-of-the-line private jet … but also offered to ship out every single piece of his gym equipment from Iceland to Vegas for this weekend’s media event so there wouldn’t be a kink in Conor’s training.
We’re told McGregor was told his gym would be set up identically to his Iceland training center and it would all be ready to go the second he stepped off the plane.
Still, McGregor refused to budge — and our sources tell us Conor was “shocked” when he was told the media obligations in Vegas were mandatory.
Now, McGregor will reportedly have to fight either Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo if he chooses to remain with the UFC. White is not planning to pencil him back in against Diaz right away.
If the McGregor-Diaz fight truly is off, the situation could get even uglier. One report claimed McGregor threatened to retire over money. Now he will be getting no money from UFC 200.
