VIDEO: Stephen A. Smith reacts to Conor McGregor retirement announcement
Since the UFC moved over to the ESPN platform, many of the ESPN personalities have had their opportunity to not only talk about the UFC but their biggest stars as well. No one has been more vocal about the UFC’s biggest star Conor McGregor, than ESPN’s big star, Stephen A. Smith.
After McGregor took to social media to announce his retirement from MMA, Stephen A. Smith used his platform to respond to McGregor’s retirement, taking aim at “The Notorious” who he says is not dedicated to winning.
“He should retire and here’s why. I really have a question as to whether or not Conor McGregor is dedicating to winning. You have the right to assault and be assaulted by people in this sport, he’s 2-2 in his last four fights, he hasn’t won since he knocked out Eddie Alvarez at The Garden. It was a sensational fight; Conor McGregor is boxing. Personally, I love to watch him talk, when he gets into the ring, he’s highly skilled, etc. but since that $100 million payday against Floyd “Money” Mayweather, he hasn’t been in the news for anything but out of the ring non-sense.”
Stephen A. Smith would go on to criticize the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, and if he has the desire to keep winning in his career. The last time McGregor was victorious in the UFC Octagon was at UFC 205 in November 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez to become the promotion’s first-ever two-weight world champion, holding two belts at the same time.
However, since his win over Alvarez, McGregor has found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons outside of fighting and has suffered a loss in a boxing match to Floyd Mayweather, and was recently defeated by currently lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 this past October.
Watch the video below for the Stephen A. Smith’s full thoughts on the Conor McGregor retirement announcement:
"If you ain't dedicated to winning, why waste our time?"
— @stephenasmith on Conor McGregor pic.twitter.com/qifHkuadRc
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 26, 2019
