And here I thought Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, would be crying himself to sleep after learning that lightweight cash cow, Conor McGregor, had retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) on Tuesday.
Guess not.
“He has the money to retire, and his whiskey is KILLIN’ it,” White wrote in a prepared statement (via MMA Junkie). “It totally makes sense. If I was him, I would retire too. He’s retiring from fighting, not from working. The whiskey will keep him busy, and I’m sure he has other things he’s working on. He has been so fun to watch. He has accomplished incredible things in this sport. I am so happy for him, and I look forward to seeing him be as successful outside of the Octagon as he was in it.”
Despite his support for the “Notorious” Irishman, there’s no question this stings on a professional level. McGregor holds multiple pay-per-view (PPV) earning records and was expected to help kickstart this new deal with ESPN+ when he returned in July.
I hope UFC has a “Plan B” because a year without a McGregor PPV means more than just “no caviar at this year’s Christmas party.”