Joseph Benavidez says his decision to retire was made quickly and he didn’t realize it would be so emotional.
The Benavidez news came late yesterday afternoon and he announced he was hanging up the gloves for good. The four-time UFC flyweight title challenger had been on a 3 fight skid, with his last win dating back to 2019. Although he had come to terms with where he was in his career, the gush of support from MMA fans all over was what got Benavidez to become emotional.
UFC flyweight Joseph Benavidez has retired from MMA, such a great fighter and will miss his fights
— Jade Morris (@JadeMorrisMMA) September 15, 2021
“I’ve known I’ve been retired, so I didn’t also think it would be an emotional thing,” Benavidez told TSN. “But just reading a bunch of stuff, I was crying in the backyard – so it’s been a good day. I haven’t been able to put anything out myself yet. “It just kind of came very sudden,” Benavidez said. “I’ve actually known I was going to retire for a while, but you have to make it official, I guess, to retire and do all that stuff – like tell the people that it concerns, like (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard, that you’re going to retire, and USADA and all that. So I actually just had to kind of do that yesterday because I was bored. I was like, ‘I should probably make this official.’ I’ve kind of been retired, in a way.” (H/T MMAjunkie)
Retirement is always the hardest part of a professional fighter’s career. Some fighters tend to stick around a bit longer than needed and fans’ lasting memory are bad ones. Benavidez is remembered for his fantastic battles and as a crowd favorite in the Flyweight division. He was a true pioneer of the Flyweight division in the UFC and finished his UFC career with a 19-7 record (28-8 MMA).
We here at LowKick MMA wish Benavidez good fortune in his future endeavors as a retired fighter.
Will you miss watching Joseph Benavidez inside the octagon?