Back in October Conor McGregor returned to the UFC after nearly two years of inactivity when he took on Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout was for the UFC Lightweight Championship, a title McGregor had won back in 2016 from Eddie Alvarez (and made him a concurrent two-division champion) but had been stripped of due to his lack of fights inside the promotion. Nurmagomedov beat McGregor via submission, forcing the Irish fighter to tap out to a neck crank midway through the fourth round. McGregor was initially gracious in defeat, but he took to Twitter on Wednesday night with a claim that he walked into that fight severely injured.
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I broke my foot 3 weeks out from the bout.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 11, 2019
I still marched forward however, and also landed the final blows of the night.
On his blood brother.
I am happy with how the contest went and the lessons learned.
In my fighting and more importantly my preparation.
Time will reveal all. https://t.co/VNxbrfk6qx
“I broke my foot 3 weeks out from the bout. I still marched forward however, and also landed the final blows of the night. On his blood brother. I am happy with how the contest went and the lessons learned. In my fighting and more importantly my preparation. Time will reveal all.”
By “blood brother,” McGregor is mentioning the brief fight he got into with with several of Nurmagomedov’s teammates, include his cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov had jumped out of the cage and briefly scrapped with McGregor’s training partner, Dillon Danis, in the crowd. Both men were suspended indefinitely after the incident, with McGregor eventually getting a six-month suspension that ended back on April 6.
Two days prior to that, McGregor took to Twitter claiming that he was retiring from MMA.
“Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as ‘Mixed Martial Art’ today,” he wrote. “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!”
But many MMA fans weren’t buying it, and a week later McGregor was already back to challenging Nurmagomedov to a rematch.
“I want to move forward, with my fans of all faiths and all backgrounds,” McGregor wrote. “All faiths challenge us to be our best selves. It is one world and one for all. Now see you in the Octagon.”
