MMA analyst Robin Black says Conor McGregor's retirement, which shocked the sports world on Tuesday morning, might soon become an official move, since the Irish fighter is "no longer obsessed" with becoming the best athlete.
As fans and media speculate about the possible retirement of the MMA's biggest start, which McGregor announced on Twitter, analyst Robin Black gave his take on the situation.
"You can tweet whatever you want, that doesn’t make it official. However, he may make that official retirement," Black said, talking to RT Sport via a video call.
READ MORE: UFC superstar Conor McGregor announces 'retirement from MMA'
"We’ve seen others doing it, Georges St-Pierre just officially retired and he means it. Georges will move on with his life. Conor McGregor is a different one. The part of him that wants to be the best fighter, that wants to be a legend, that wants to be remembered forever, that wants to accomplish great things is separate from the part of him that wants to make a lot of money, that wants to wear expensive suits, and wants to sell the best whiskey.
"Those two thing are right now in conflict. I don’t think that Conor McGregor coming back right now as anything but an obsessed martial artist driven to be the best… I don’t think he beats [Max] Holloway, I certainly don’t think he beats Khabib. I don’t even know if he beats Dustin Poirier. Conor McGregor right now with his mind on all of theses different businesses, lawsuits, criminal things, whiskey… He is not the Conor McGregor that is the best in the world at the time. So maybe it makes the most sense for him to retire."
It's worth noting that Black predicted McGregor may retireme back in August 2018 in the build-up to his super-fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“If McGregor loses (to Khabib), in my opinion, he will retire," he said back then.
READ MORE: ‘Conor McGregor will retire if Khabib beats him’ – MMA analyst Robin Black
This time the Canadian analyst says McGregor may go back and forth between retiring and competing before making an official decision.
A former lightweight and featherweight UFC champ, McGregor announced his desire to retire from the "sport formally known as 'Mixed Martial Art'" via his Twitter account on Tuesday morning. But many have questioned the authenticity of the Irishman's decision, given he announced the same news three years ago, only to make a U-turn two days later.
Also on rt.com 'Thanks for the cheese': Looking back on Conor McGregor's previous 2-day retirement in 2016