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UFC President Dana White did not confirm McGregor's
retirement but said he would no longer be fighting a rematch
with Nate Diaz on the UFC 200 card on July 9 after refusing to
fly to Las Vegas for a news conference and promotional photos.
American Diaz handed the cocky Irishman his first UFC loss
earlier this month when he chocked him into submission in a
non-title bout at UFC 196.
"I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch
ya's later," McGregor, 27, said on Twitter.
The news comes a week after Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho
died following injuries sustained in a bout in Dublin against
McGregor's team mate, Charlie Ward.
McGregor, who was sitting ringside at that fight, said on his
Facebook page that combat sport was a "crazy game" and that
Carvalho's death was "heartbreaking".
"It is such a rare occurrence that I don't know how to take
this," he added.
McGregor surged through the featherweight ranks before knocking
out champion Jose Aldo in 13 seconds in December. He has become
the UFC's hottest property with his outrageous trash-talking
outside the cage and vicious skills inside it.
His stunning loss in March, where the Irishman went up two
divisions to fight American Diaz at welterweight, came as
another blow to the UFC following the previously undefeated
Ronda Rousey's loss to Holly Holm.
Holm caused one of the greatest upsets in combat sport when she
knocked out Rousey in Melbourne to snatch the world bantamweight
title last November.
Diaz, no stranger to trash-talking himself, responded to
McGregor's Tweet with one of his own: "I guess my work here is
done I'm retiring too."
(This story corrects Diaz's first name in second par)
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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