Ariel Helwani says that McGregor’s retirement is real, UFC working on new plan

The MMA world is still trying to make sense of Conor McGregor’s tweet from earlier today, where the current featherweight champ stated that he had “decided to retire young“.

Many fans thought and hoped that McGregor’s tweet was some sort of April fools joke or hoax, however, MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani is saying that sources have confirmed that Conor’s tweet is not a prank and that he is in fact walking away from the sport. His words:

Reasons still unclear, but 4 hours later, multiple sources maintaining McGregor's tweet is real. UFC working on next step(s) at this time.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 19, 2016

Worth noting: both McGregor and Diaz were scheduled to be in Vegas this weekend to promote their rematch.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 19, 2016

Ariel Helwani also stated that the UFC is already “working on the next steps” at this time.

Conor McGregor was supposed to rematch Nate Diaz in the headlining bout of July’s UFC 200 event.

Following Conor’s tweet, Nate Diaz also retired from MMA.

What is your take on the McGregor/Diaz retirements? Sound off PENN Nation!