Maybe it was an injury. Maybe it was a dispute with the promotion. Or it could have been one of those infamous semi-permanent retirements.
Regardless of reason, it’s not unusual for fighters to take a break from the cage. Sometimes, fighters step back for a period of months or even years.
Mike Swick recently showed that you can go home again. But what about those for whom an extended leave of absence didn’t work so well? That’s probably the more common outcome, given that fighting inside a cage is not quite akin to riding atop a bike.
These 10 fighters fell flat upon their respective not-so-triumphant returns.