Conor McGregor's importance to the UFC (and MMA as a sport in general)

Conor McGregor has again announced his withdrawal from the UFC. This would be the third time that the Irish fighter has made public his intention to leave MMA. The first was in April 2016 and the second in March 2019.

This time it seems that his withdrawal has taken UFC fans by surprise, since both in his last appearances in the press and on his social networks he had expressed his desire to continue competing on top of the octagon or on a boxing ring.

On his social networks McGregor announced that he will not fight again and thanked the support of the fans during all these years.

Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting.
Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!
Here is a picture of myself and my mother in Las Vegas post one of my World title wins!
Pick the home of your dreams Mags I love you!
Whatever you desire it’s yours ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Dh4ijsZacZ

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 7, 2020

Lately there had been talk of a fight between Conor McGregor and Anderson Silva, as well as a match against Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title.

This announcement has caused reactions from the UFC world, one of them has been Daniel Cormier, who has expressed the importance that Conor McGregor has not only for the UFC, but also for MMA as a sport

Cormier has always been a big fan of McGregor's work, although he maintains a close friendship with Khabib, Conor's biggest rival. During the last episode of his show on ESPN, Cormier highlighted the importance that the UFC should give to mending things with McGregor.

"It's not worth risking losing [Conor McGregor] for the long term because you can't make him happy right now."@dc_mma and @arielhelwani agree UFC has got to "make it work" for McGregor in light of his recently announced retirement. pic.twitter.com/dwDpyxgFJp

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 8, 2020

McGregor points out as the main reason for his retirement not to see in the door any fight that motivates him. Conor had convinced himself that the UFC would allow him to face Justin Gaethje in the summer. However Gaethje has no intention of risking his fight against Khabib.

You're missing: Find out what Conor McGregor's tattoos mean

It remains to be seen if the UFC can get McGregor an interesting fight, or just keep him waiting to give him the chance to fight for the light title with the winner between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje.

If you liked this article and have enjoyed it, please share it through social networks. TOTAL THANKS