TUF 4 alum and former UFC fighter Chris Lytle explains why he came out to retirement and opted to fight at Bare Knuckle FC.
Former UFC welterweight and TUF 4 alum Chris Lytle last fought in 2011, with a third-round submission win over Dan Hardy. It also served as his retirement fight, after 11 years of professional competition.
Now 43 years of age, “Lights Out” Lytle decided to come out of retirement and test himself once again at Bare Knuckle FC 2 this weekend. According to him, he was actually able to keep himself in shape over the years since he last competed professionally.
“The way I look at it, I wasn’t really retired,” Lytle told MMA Fighting. “I was just training for this for the last seven years. So I was ahead of the curve.
A former professional boxer himself, Lytle adds that the reason why he chose to go for bare knuckled fighting instead of returning to MMA was because of how the way of competition has changed since the earlier days of prizefighting.
“It ain’t like that anymore. People just want to go out there, and they want to win a contest. They want to try to hold the guy down or outjab,” Lytle said. “That’s weak. Nobody likes that.”
“This sport still has that, and that’s why this sport’s gonna take off. People want to see other people beat the shit out of the other guy. They don’t want to see a person outjab a guy, or try to win a decision. They want to see people get hurt.”
“That’s why I do this, that’s why I want to be here, and that’s what the fans want to see,” he continued. “So this sport’s gonna blow up for the next couple of years because of that reason right there, and right there only. It’s not a contest, this is a fight.”
Lytle is slated to face Drew Lipton at Bare Knuckle FC 2, which takes place on Saturday, August 25th in Biloxi, Mississippi. Also part of the card is former UFC strawweight Bec Rawlings, who won her bare knuckle boxing debut last June.