In the eyes of many fans, some of the recent legends in the UFC have retired too soon, leaving us wanting more. What are the reasons for this, and is it a potential issue?
Introduction
The UFC has become far and away the main player in the world of Mixed-Martial Arts (MMA), particularly since the explosive growth of the company since the first season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005, which saved the company from financial difficulties. In the following years, numerous stars emerged globally, rivaling the star power of athletes from other sports such as boxing, soccer, and basketball.
Where the UFC has differed, however, is that many of its star athletes have either walked away from the company or retired from the sport indefinitely while being at the height of their powers. In this article, we look at the reasons for this and the possible implications (if any) going forwards.
Other Sports
In soccer, the world’s biggest sport, it is infrequent for its athletes to bow out on top, and most earn considerably more than their MMA counterparts over a prolonged period. Recent examples of this are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who continue to play the game well into their thirties despite both men being way past their prime. Ronaldo signed the most lucrative deal in soccer history when he signed for Al Nassr in the Saudi Arabian league last summer, earning a reported $200 million + per year. Messi is expected to follow suit by signing a lucrative deal overseas with Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami in the next month or two.
We should bare in mind that comparing soccer to MMA is apples and oranges. Ronaldo and Messi are not putting their health at serious risk every time they step onto the field, and their long-term health is not compromised while competing or training, like in MMA. The same can be said for basketball; its biggest star, Lebron James, has recently completed his twentieth season in the NBA, and it’s looking likely he will continue to compete next year as he fast approaches his fortieth birthday. Although a physically demanding sport, basketball also doesn’t have dangers anywhere near comparable to MMA.
The NFL, however, is undoubtedly a dangerous sport, and its most accomplished player, Tom Brady, only retired earlier this year at 45. Brady made generational wealth many years ago, so he hasn’t needed to compete for a long time, but chose to do so due to his love of the sport and his competitive nature, despite the clear risks of developing CTE, amongst other long-term health ailments due to the repeated blows from 300lb+ men in helmets.
Still, comparing the NFL to MMA is also apples and oranges. Although a dangerous sport, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Aaron Rodgers aren’t getting repeatedly punched in the face, and their opponents aren’t trying to break their limbs. A few bad performances in team sports can easily be forgotten with an up-turn in form, whereas in combat sports, bad performances usually end with being rendered unconscious. A lot more challenging to recover from, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
You often hear fighters and promoters in MMA claim that it’s a young mans ( or womans) game, which seems obvious given that reflexes slow down as one gets older, and recovery time after each training session becomes longer. But is it that obvious? The UFC has had three champions over the age of forty; Randy Couture, Daniel Cormier, and Glover Teixeira. Couture was forty-five when he lost the heavyweight title to Brock Lesnar. There is something to be said for experience, no question.
Conor McGregor – The UFC’s biggest star
The UFC does a great job promoting its athletes and dedicates a significant amount of time and resources to telling fighters’ stories, which vary wildly from one to the other. We know their backgrounds, strengths and flaws, and most importantly, their personalities. The same cannot be said for boxing, where we are commonly spoon-fed the ‘rags-to-riches’ storyline, which has started to wear thin over the years.
‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor has unrivaled charisma and splits opinions among fans and the general public. His name is always in the media for a variety of reasons ranging from his fighting, business ventures, trash-talk, and public mishaps. There’s no doubting McGregor’s talents; he was the first man to achieve UFC ‘Double Champ’ status with scintillating knockout victories over Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez, landing him both titles in dramatic fashion.
His humor, straight talking, confidence, and fighting style all contributed to him becoming a global star today, and his fame extends outside the Octagon, with the majority of the world knowing who he is. Other fighters, such as Khabib and Georges St-Pierre, achieved mega-star status primarily from their success inside the Octagon. They tended to distance themselves from doing whatever it took to sell a fight.
Although McGregor hasn’t retired, he has announced his retirement more than once. His statements weren’t entirely legitimate and turned out to be negotiation tactics to get the UFC to schedule him a fight. There are concerns from some fans that a fight with Michael Chandler at the end of this year may not go ahead, with some believing we will never see McGregor compete in the Octagon again. If we don’t see McGregor fight again, his financial status will certainly have played a part in his retirement, as he isn’t too far off being a billionaire. Although he still has that competitive nature, it takes a different kind of motivation to keep showing up to the gym with that level of money in the bank.
If ‘The Notorious’ did hang up the gloves, the general consensus is that his retirement wouldn’t be premature given his financial status, other business interests, and previous injuries. With other stars who have retired previously, many have felt that the retirement from MMA came too soon. Below are four mega-stars where that may be the case.
Ronda Rousey
Reasons for retirement: Fell out of love with the sport
Often hailed as the pioneer of women’s MMA, Ronda Rousey retired in 2016 following her defeat against Amanda Nunes. Rousey told Daniel Cormier in an interview for his YouTube channel that she felt she carried on in MMA for too long, trying to please other people when the fire had burned out for a while.
Rousey stated that she disliked losing a lot more than she enjoyed being victorious. Prior to tasting her first defeat to Holly Holm, Rousey was on a 12-0 streak, and quite remarkably, all bar one of those fights ended in a first-round stoppage. Rousey seemed unbeatable before her defeat against Holly Holm, and in the build-up to her final fight in MMA, Rousey shied away from media obligations to focus solely on her fight with Nunes. After suffering defeat for the second time in her career, Rousey decided to retire from the sport with the former UFC Bantamweight Champion and Olympic Gold medallist, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire female fighters today.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Reasons for retirement: Bereavement, now financially secure
24 October 2020 was the last time we saw Khabib competing in the Octagon following his submission victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi. A few months prior, Khabib had sadly lost his father, who was also his coach and mentor. Deciding to fight one more time, he put in a fantastic performance in memory of his late father and, before the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, took off his gloves and gave a highly emotional speech where he said that he’d promised his mother that he would no longer continue to fight without his father backing him in the corner.
UFC president, Dana White, has gone on record on numerous occasions before stating that he respects the decisions of his fighters and doesn’t like to try and persuade them to make a return. Still, on this occasion, he made an exception, albeit unsuccessful, to get ‘The Eagle’ to make a return. Khabib no longer wanted to get the 30-0 record and was financially secure for the rest of his life.
Georges St -Pierre
Reasons for retirement: PED usage in the sport, mental health
After compiling an MMA record of 26-2, Georges St-Pierre surprised almost everybody when he announced his retirement following his victory over Johnny Hendricks. His reasons differed from everybody else featured in this article, with the prevalence of performing-enhancing drugs being an issue.
‘Rush’ told Burt Watson of the ‘Legend 2 Legend’ podcast that he felt the UFC were aware of a number of their fighters taking PEDs and ignoring the issue due to some of the culprits being big draws for the company. This, coupled with the pressure of being the champion for so long, affected his mental health, and he decided to step away from the sport in 2013. St.Pierre returned after a four-year hiatus to defeat Michael Bisping for the UFC Welterweight title, and rumors began to intensify of a bout between ‘Rush’ and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The mega-fight never materialized due to the UFC not being keen on St-Pierre returning for one fight and potentially beating the unbeaten Nurmagomedov before retiring again. A defeat for Khabib would have hurt his marketability due to the unbeaten record being lost to a man he would not have a chance of redemption against.
As many expected Khabib to retire once he had achieved a 30-0 record, a fight between him and St-Pierre became more likely after ‘The Eagle’ defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, taking his record to 29-0. The mega-fight would’ve now been a farewell fight for both men and wouldn’t hold up the division going forwards. Unfortunately, the fight would never get made as Khabib promised his mother that he would never fight again.
Amanda Nunes
Reasons for retirement: Achieved all of her goals.
Nunes is the latest superstar to retire from MMA after her victory over Irene Aldana at UFC 289. As with the other fighters mentioned above, the announcement surprised most fans who were expecting her to complete the trilogy with Julianna Pena. Nunes was hardly on the decline, losing just once in her last fifteen fights. She could have easily continued and reigned as the double champion for a considerable amount of time, but she felt as though she had nothing left to prove and it’s hard to argue a case against that.
Nunes stated that she had achieved everything she wanted to and no longer wished to compete, wishing to focus on coaching the next rising female stars instead. Dana White commented in the post-fight press conference after UFC 289 that he could understand why Nunes has retired, considering she has made so much money during her impressive run in the company.
UFC and ESPN – More fighters mean more retirements
Since the UFC announced its record-breaking broadcast deal with ESPN in May 2018, fans have been treated to 30 UFC Fight Night cards and 12 pay-per-view cards yearly.
It could be argued that so many events dilute things a little, making it difficult for even the hardcore fan to keep up with what’s happening. The ESPN deal requires more events to be held than previously, which means more fighters are needed; the UFC roster now boasts over 600 athletes. More events mean more opportunities for fighters to put together a run and go on a tear through their respective division, building a profile for themselves and elevating themselves to earn life-changing money.
More fights could also mean there is less room for mega-stars. Only so many people can command a lot of attention, and there is a risk that with the UFC growing so exponentially, there are too many people jostling to the face of the organization. When the people at the top of the tree retire, as Amanda Nunes did recently, there isn’t an obvious replacement to take her mantle despite the number of fighters on the books.
A counter-argument to the view that the UFC holds too many events is by comparing MMA to boxing. Boxing has many more professional fighters than MMA, and that’s always been the case. Despite that, they have never failed to build superstars, and even today, even with all the criticisms that boxing has, there are still several stars in the sport, such as Canelo Alvarez, Gervonta Davis, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury.
The cream always rises to the top, and if the UFC had fewer events and fewer fighters on their roster, it’s hard to imagine a world where McGregor, Adesanya, and Nunes wouldn’t have still become stars. Having more fighters will naturally result in more retirements, so an easy argument can be made that more fighters are retiring early over the past few years, so we focused on ‘Mega-Stars’ for this article. Whether it’s 1000 or 100 fighters on a roster, there can only be room for a few to stand out.
Fighters retiring – is it a problem for the UFC?
It doesn’t seem to be. The UFC was valued at over $12 billion in April 2023, so it’s difficult to present the argument that fighter retirements are significantly hurting the company. With the four stars mentioned above, there isn’t a common denominator for why they retire (although we recognize the sample size is small). We can only go by the explanations they give us in interviews and statements, and there will often be underlying reasons that they either fail to disclose or choose to keep private.
Rousey, St-Pierre, Nurmagomedov, and Nunes all retired when they were either at the very top or when they were still mega-draws. That may be why they are viewed as such legends; they left the company when their reputation was intact. The UFC, and MMA in general, is still a relatively new sport in the eyes of the mainstream, so it’s hard to garner whether or not announcing your retirement while being on a slide impacts your legacy or not. It certainly isn’t the case for Anderson Silva, who retired from the sport with just one win in his last nine fights. Despite the skid, many still consider Silva to be on the ‘Mount Rushmore’ of MMA legends.
The reasons top-level fighters give when they retire are varied in nature, indicating that it’s difficult to put processes in place to prevent it from happening – perhaps it’s just bad luck. More of an issue for the UFC is fighters letting their contracts run down so they can pursue other organizations or sports entirely as they chase a more significant payday like Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou. This has particularly become an issue over the past few years due to extra scrutiny on UFC fighter pay and the emergence of crossover bouts thanks to YouTube stars such as Jake Paul and KSI.
Fighters will always retire, and new stars will always emerge. The UFC’s partnership with ESPN is still relatively new, and no other MMA organization has a deal anywhere near as big or a roster as stacked. Despite Conor McGregor and Jon Jones – the two biggest stars in the UFC – being largely inactive over the past few years, several stars in the organization remain despite the recent retirement of Nunes. Fighters retiring isn’t a massive issue for the UFC, as the train continues regardless. A more optimistic outlook is that every time a legend leaves, even if prematurely, a new opportunity becomes available for somebody else.
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