Conor McGregor announces retirement, gets roasted by Justin Gaethje

McGregor told ESPN's Ariel Helwani of his decision to retire:

"The game just does not excite me, and that's that. All this waiting around. There's nothing happening. I'm going through opponent options, and there's nothing really there at the minute. There's nothing that's exciting me."

McGregor added that he wrote a draft of his retirement tweet two weeks ago. However, this isn't the first time the former featherweight and lightweight champion announced his retirement via social media. 

He first walked away from the sport in 2016 after refusing to travel to the United States to take part in a news conference for his rematch against Nate Diaz. He returned later that summer and defeated Diaz. McGregor then announced he was retiring again in 2019 but returned to defeat Donald Cerrone in January. 

The native of Ireland was going to fight three times in 2020, and while he completed his first fight, the coronavirus pandemic drove a knife into his plans. 

McGregor, who is 22-4, has just two UFC losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Diaz. He leaves the game ranked eighth on the UFC pound-for-pound list.

If this truly is the end for McGregor, one fighter certainly isn't going to miss him. Interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje roasted McGregor via Twitter for his announcement with the hashtag "Bye Felicia," also saying, "Thankfully all of the elderly are still hiding in their homes."

Gaethje, of course, was referencing a 2019 incident where McGregor punched an old man in the face at an Irish pub after he refused to try a glass of McGregor's whiskey brand Proper Twelve. He later received a fine and apologized for the incident.