Matt Bessette thought his UFC dreams were over after losing to Kurt Holobaugh on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. So, after a CES MMA title fight on Feb. 2, he planned to hang his gloves up. But wait. Not so fast …
Matt Bessette went through a crazy turn of events last week.
On Wednesday, Jan. 10, the 11-year MMA veteran informed his wife of his intention to retire from the sport after a scheduled CES MMA title defense on Feb. 2. Bessette (22-7) had always wanted to fight in the UFC, but after 29 fights, including a recent seven-fight winning streak, that call had never come. Bessette had other things to accomplish in life.
He knew he needed to move on, especially after a knockout loss turned no-contest to Kurt Holobaugh on the first Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series event last summer. Bessette had come so close — if he won that fight in exciting fashion, he was almost guaranteed a UFC contract — but ultimately missed the boat. The bout was later overturned when it was discovered Holobaugh had allegedly used an IV, which are banned in Nevada, ahead of the card.
After he fell short on the UFC’s feeder show, Bessette thought his UFC dreams were over.
“For sure. For sure I thought that was it,” Bessette told BloodyElbow.com. “Those negative thoughts go through your head. The smarter you are, the more you weigh the possibilities. You weigh the negatives with the positives, and you go from there.”
Bessette still loved competing, but he decided it was almost time to hang his gloves up because MMA just wasn’t paying off anymore. It never would anymore unless he was in the UFC. Fighting on the local scene for years to come wasn’t going to happen.
The Connecticut also had — and still has — plans to become a police officer.
“Part of me was like, ‘If this is gonna happen, it’s gotta happen immediately. I’m not gonna sit around and wait any longer,’” Bessette said. “If the UFC called, they called; if they didn’t, they didn’t. But I’m not gonna take any more local fights after that one, so I can stop fighting for only a little bit of money, and actually get a job that pays me each week. It’s a pain in a butt to live paycheck to paycheck like that. It’s really difficult, never knowing when you’re gonna fight next exactly.”
Bessette said he and his wife “were both pretty bummed” because of his plans to stop fighting, and that “it was kind of an emotional situation.
“But it had to be done,” he said. “At 30 fights, I should’ve and realistically could’ve been in the UFC several years ago; it just never happened from me. I gotta stop waiting around on this possible hype train, because it’s killing the evolution of our family — trying to move on to the next step in our lives and stuff like that. I feel like I was holding everybody back, just because I was being selfish and wanted this UFC dream become true.”
Bessette said he didn’t plan to retire sooner because he was holding up hope. He also felt like he was improving as a mixed martial artist, so he didn’t want to leave the MMA scene still on the rise. However, his excitement level ahead of fights has decreased since a Bellator bout against Diego Nunes in 2014.
“Nothing can take a fight away from me. There’s been fight in me since I was born,” Bessette said. “When I’m in a fight, I absolutely love it. But leading up to it, the last time I was really excited for a fight — jitters, go out there and performing, and feel amazing — was when I fought Diego Nunes. It happened very regularly before that, but that was the last time it happened.
“I think it had to do with the fact that I beat the former No. 3 guy in the world, and that means I should be in the UFC. Just the fact that it wasn’t happening, and I wanted it so bad. I kept fighting, because I love fighting. It’s a paycheck at the same time. And I know I’m always getting better, and I always want to prove I’m getting better. It was like, ‘I want to keep getting better, I want to keep fighting, and I know I’ll get that UFC shot.’ But at the same time, it does just constantly weigh on you the fact that you’re not at the place you should be.”
But Bessette didn’t hold onto those retirement plans for long. A single day after revealing his retirement plans — at the 11th hour — Bessette got the call he had waited more than a decade for.
UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby offered him a short-notice bout at UFC 220 on Jan. 20 in Boston against featherweight Enrique Barzola. The TUF: Latin America’s initial opponent, Arnold Allen, was forced off the card due to visa issues.
Bessette said the opportunity came down to the fact that he’s a New England native and that the card is happening in Boston. He doesn’t think, though, that his fight in front of UFC president Dana White last summer on the Contender Series affected his chances “one way or another.
“It’s huge. It’s the aligning of the stars,” Bessette said of his UFC signing. “It’s such an amazing feeling. … Coupled with me saying this would be my last fight, it was just an amazing adrenaline dump of euphoria. It just happened all within a 24-hour period. Like, holy f-cking sh-t. That’s incredible. It’s amazing that that happened.”
As you may expect, Bessette no longer has any plans to retire from MMA.
“(They are) way out the window,” he said. “Remember when I said I had that feeling for Diego Nunes? It’s like that, (but) heightened. I’ve never had that feeling right now. I’m f-cking amped. Amped, dude. So pumped right now. … I’m not even thinking about [retirement]. I’m fighting.”
Bessette isn’t feeling much pressure headed into his Octagon debut, simply because he is where he’s wanted to be his entire career. “The Mangler” has officially arrived.
“There’s less pressure, because I don’t feel like I have to go anywhere else — I’ve made it,” he said. “Every CES title fight, every Bellator fight, it was always like, ‘Building my resume, building my resume, don’t mess up, because I gotta get the job that I want, which is the UFC.’ I finally got the job, so now it’s show up to work and kick the sh-t out of somebody. That’s all it is.”