Real or fake? Conor McGregor tweets his retirement from MMA

Has April Fools’ Day come early or did Conor McGregor really retire from MMA?

McGregor tweeted late on Monday night that he was retiring from MMA. His tweet was complete with a “Proper” reference to his whiskey.

Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as “Mixed Martial Art” today.
I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition.
I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement.
Proper Pina Coladas on me fellas!

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 26, 2019

I have a hard time believing McGregor will never partake in an MMA fight again, especially when he just signed an 8-fight deal with the UFC last year.

So what’s going on? My guess is one of two things.

One, maybe McGregor is taking a page out of Floyd Mayweather’s book. Mayweather retired multiple times during his boxing career, which proved to be a successful strategy at building interest in his subsequent fights when he came out of retirement. In other words, this could be a publicity stunt.

Two, McGregor said last week he was close to fighting in July. There was supposedly a snag over the potential fight with Donald Cerrone because it would only be a co-main event, which supposedly wasn’t suitable to Conor. He also seemed to be angling for an ownership stake in the company, so maybe he’s trying to exercise his leverage.

There’s no way I’m buying this.