MMA star Conor McGregor and UFC boss Dana White are sending mixed messages over McGregor's potential return to the octagon – or his retirement.
White told multiple news outlets on Monday that McGregor will not be on the card for UFC 200 in July, contradicting a tweet that McGregor sent out the day before.
On Monday, McGregor tweeted that he was "BACK on UFC 200," thanking White and UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta for "getting this one done for the fans. #Respect."
White later told the L.A. Times that McGregor's claim is "not true."
White pulled McGregor from UFC 200 for failing to appear at a promotional event in Las Vegas last week – a move that prompted the Irish fighter to hint at retirement. McGregor had been training in Iceland at the time.
"I have decided to retire young," McGregor tweeted on Apr. 19. "Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later."
But in a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday, the 27-year-old gave a more detailed explanation of his absence from the event, citing the “need to prepare correctly this time” after losing to Nate Diaz in early March.
“I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep,” he wrote. “With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight.”
“For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations--I AM NOT RETIRED.”
Here is Conor McGregor's Facebook post:
