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We already know that over the weekend Conor McGregor announced his retirement for the third time in so many years. Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal are two major UFC stars whose fate remain precarious.
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The books aren't buying any of it. BetOnline still offered a series of odds on all three fighters.
McGregor is a +140 underdog taking on Masival (-160)
Kamaru Usman is a -260 favorite taking on Masival (+200)
Justin Gaethje is a +110 favorite versus McGregor at +130
Jones is +125 vs. Francis Ngannou -145
McGregor is at +285 vs Usman -350
A few ESPN contributors have chimed on on the impact and which of the three leaving would be most problematic.
Ariel Helwani writes:
"There isn't a wrong answer here because these three are all A-Listers, and it's not a good look for the promotion to have any of them publicly feuding with the UFC. However, I'll go with Masvidal because if you're following him on Twitter, you'll notice he is not holding back. At all. And what makes him so "problematic" is that he is talking about economic issues that affect all fighters. He's talking about the business of the sport, and he isn't showing any signs of slowing down."
Brett Okamoto writes:
"Jones. Look, until we really hear more from McGregor, I, personally, am putting no stock into this "retirement announcement." There is no chance that man is retired. He posted a picture of a retirement cake over the weekend, which is fun, but post a picture of a letter to USADA, withdrawing yourself from the testing pool -- because that's when a retirement is real. This is just my personal opinion -- and I'll preface it by saying McGregor is the most important figure in MMA right now -- but I just think the man is looking for attention. That's it. Jones is different. Jones is mad, and I do think he's willing to sit for a while. He's a polarizing individual, but he's also the greatest of all time. And he's the present and future of the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Daniel Cormier is going to retire soon. Stipe Miocic might too. Those two upper weight classes are thin, and they need Jones."
