CONOR McGregor has been pulled from his Las Vegas fight against Nate Diaz in July under a cloud of uncertainty.
On Tuesday, McGregor spoke of a potential retirement on Twitter, sparking headlines worldwide.
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
While UFC president Dana White did not confirm McGregor's retirement, it was subsequently announced that the UFC 200 card - which was to be headlined by his re-match with Diaz - would not be going ahead on July 9.
A statement on the UFC website read: “White revealed that the decision was made by the promotion after McGregor informed UFC officials that he would not participate in any promotional activities, including a commercial shoot and press conferences.”
In March, the 27-year-old suffered a shock second round defeat to Diaz.
McGregor's coach John Kavanagh added via his Twitter account: “Well was fun while it lasted.”
MMA fans shared their reactions on Twitter in their masses, but many still doubt the authenticity of McGregor’s announcement.
In an interview with ESPN, White attempted to clarify the situation regarding McGregor's duty to promote UFC 200 in Las Vegas.
"I respect Conor as a fighter and I like him as a person, but you can't decide not to show up to these things," he said. "He's in Iceland training. He felt leaving right now would hurt his training, but every other fighter on the card is coming."
