This wasn’t one of those fake retirement deals, the kind you do out of frustration or disappointment or just to get attention.
It wasn’t the forever kind either, though Matt Hamill didn’t know that at the time.
When he announced in August 2011 that he was hanging up his gloves and walking away from MMA, he was positive that he’d never be back in the cage. No way did he think that, a little over a year later, he’d be gearing up for a bout with Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 152 in Toronto. Not a chance.