Despite the fact that this is my first article on this website, lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about retirement. And here’s a simple question for everyone, specifically in the context of the UFC and MMA, what does retirement actually mean?
MMA fighters, much like boxers, are independent contractors, they’re not on salary, they’re not technically even employees. They can come and go as they please given that someone is interested. So if a fighter can find an opponent and a venue, they can keep fighting professionally indefinitely. Well, a lot of fighters are also coaches, or analysts, or commentators. So most continue to get paid in the fight game either by discussing the next generation (like Josh Thompson, Dan Hardy, and Chael Sonnen) or by training them (Daniel Cormier, Din Thomas, Mike Brown, and many others).
A while ago, I used to be a comedian. While I was naturally funny and seemed to do well just improving with the audience and I feel I had good material with some good insight, I was a horrible performer and had a bad memory when it came to my own material. So after a few years during and post-college trapped in a series of hell gigs and bad paydays, I stopped. Now, did I retire from comedy? Not really. Although I guess in some ways I did. But no one cared and it didn’t really matter. I did a job and then stopped doing it, to no fanfare and little interest.
Most people think of retirement as a career with a salary and benefits that you have and then after so many years of steady income, you move on, usually because you’ve gotten older. Even in stick and ball sports, that’s the way it works, with a salary a league minimum, an expected number of years in the sports, plus a union and healthcare. Similar to civilians, usually after the athlete has gotten too old, they move on. Sometimes the fans care and it’s a big celebration, sometimes they don’t, and then that player goes quietly into… Alright, you get it.
So let’s take me for instance, any time I want, I could head to an open mic and walk right back up on stage, and in essence that would be me making my triumphant return to comedy. Again, who would know and who would really care?
Recently Ben Askren retired, citing a necessary hip surgery as the main reason. But he had retired before, in fact, he was retired for two years before joining the UFC. He was an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, did he “retire” from Olympic competition or did he just stop? Georges St-Pierre had retired, taken four years off, then came back and won the title in a different weight class against Michael Bisping only to retire again. Yet the MMA world is constantly inundated with rumbling of him coming back to potentially face Khabib Nurmagomedov in a super fight. So how retired is he really?
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has already retired and is now discussing coming back, same for Nick Diaz (potentially returning to avenge his younger brother Nate’s recent loss to Jorge Masvidal). Oddly, Nate also seemed to infer he was retiring about a week ago only to then walk that statement back. Floyd Mayweather even said he’s coming back… Again. And for many UFC fighters, retirement usually means just getting old and slow and winding up in smaller organizations, sometimes in other countries.
For years, Bellator has filled most of its roster with old fighters way past their prime but who still have name recognition. Is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time Fedor Emelianenko facing former Pride and UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson really the fight most fans clamored for 10 years for?
For most of these old fighters, retirement is an eager awaiting. I don’t want to see them fight anymore. I don’t want to see them take more damage. BJ Penn should have retired over a decade ago, and Dana White all but admitted he kept him around because that way he could protect the legendary fighter from other promotions who would use his name recognition to sell fights, even if it meant getting him hurt. So the UFC controlled who his opponents were to give him a “fighting” chance. Penn was born into a family of wealth and privilege, so he never needed to fight, he just did it because, well… he enjoyed it. Now 40 and on a seven-fight losing streak, BJ will probably be headed to Bellator or an even smaller promotion (that is when he isn’t getting into street fights in Hawaii).
A couple of years back, Mark Hunt said he hoped he died in the octagon because dying in the cage like a warrior is the honorable way he should go out. Even at the time, I got what he was saying, but none of us truly want to see old legends literally die before our eyes. So what do we do? Tell adults what to do? Regulate the behavior of people who are independent? Obviously, they can do as they wish.
Ultimately, though, even selfishly perhaps, fighters past their prime is not a good product. Tito Ortiz fighting Chuck Liddell for the third time didn’t garner much fanfare cause only hardcore fans would care, and they’re in the know enough to know the fight would be a sad affair. And it was. I remember these guys being great and fighting in their primes, now it’s just two damaged, uncoordinated old men falling down and flailing about.
It gets to a point where it’s no longer sport but some sort of abuse. Chuck Liddell had already retired before, he could retire again, but now we know it doesn’t mean anything. There’s always that potential next fight looming in the future. A lot of guys have retired multiple times and come back. One of the best analysts, Dan Hardy, is talking about a comeback. Personally, I’d rather just hear him discuss the upcoming fights than try to compete against a new crop of athletes when he hasn’t fought since 2012. Eight years off is longer than most athletes’ whole careers from beginning to end.
Could Ben Askren get hip surgery, recover, and six or eight months from now feel better then he has in years and want to come back? Yes! It’s actually not that unlikely. And people would still be interested. Remember Conor McGregor retired once, then kept fighting, retired again, came back to face Khabib, and now after a long layoff is coming back to face Donald Cerrone in early 2020. He hasn’t won a fight in the UFC since 2016; that will be four years without a win. Conor uses jabs and pressure, a thing Cerrone tends to wilt against. So let’s assume he wins that upcoming bout. McGregor joined the UFC in 2013. So his entire rise to fame and championship run was less time than the time between victories. This is, of course, if he even wins.
Chael Sonnon had a good couple runs in the WEC and UFC, ultimately able to hang up the gloves on his own terms in Bellator against Lyoto Machida earlier this year. So good for him. Sure he lost, but while he does seem done with fighting, he’s definitely not done with the sport. A popular commentator and analyst on ESPN and even his own successful Youtube channel, he was able to stop fighting without having to really leave. Similarly, Daniel Cormier is a successful coach, analyst, and commentator, all the while still being a champ/contender in multiple weight classes. In that way, retirement is a sort of universal; it’s a much easier transition if you have something else to do.
One guy who arguably did it best was Michael Bisping. He fought as a journeyman/gatekeeper/veteran for many years until finally winning the title, getting a super fight against GSP, losing the title, then losing to a young Kelvin Gastelum by KO, and then going out to a bunch of support and fanfare. And now he’s seemingly more popular than ever. He’s well-liked and even more respected than ever. Perhaps that’s because he’s an announcer and has a successful podcast with comedian Louis J Gomez called “Believe You Me.” Since he’s still in the public eye and in the fight game, his personality manages to shine through. No longer the brash trash talker, he’s now a well-spoken, insightful former champ giving a quality detailed analysis that most in the MMA world respect.
I’m still left with the question, what does retirement in the UFC even mean; its finality and permanence. Even more so, how do we react to it? I guess the reality is there no such thing as retirement as a set specific date. Most people do a job until the moment they get tired of it or have made enough money, and for each person, that moment (if it ever comes) is different.
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