UFC flyweight Jimmy Flick surprised the combat sports world by announcing his retirement from mixed martial arts.
The 30-year-old was a product of the Dana White’s Contender Series and made a name for himself in his UFC debut win when he landed a flying triangle to tap out Cody Durden in December.
But despite being booked to face the brother of current flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo — Francisco — on May 8, Flick decided to call it a day at a Freestyle Cage Fighting event on Saturday.
Simply put, the former LFA champion has new goals in life which don’t involve mixed martial arts anymore.
“I have three new goals in life: spend more time with my family, help my wife reach her goals, and, my third goal, is to finish the book I started over a year ago to tell my story, to tell my life, to tell everybody why I did this,” Flick said (via MMA Fighting). “A lot of people keep asking me where I see myself in 10 years. ‘Where do you see yourself in the UFC?’ To be honest, everybody, the UFC is not my dream no more.
“A lot of people won’t understand why. It’s hard to explain and it does bring tears to my eyes, but the UFC is not looking out for me. My wife is looking out for me, my kids are looking out for me and that’s what I want. I want to be their father. I want to go to work every day, come home and be with my family. I want to spend time with my little girls, I want to spend time with my wife.
“And I’ve found out I don’t want to be the next Conor McGregor, or the next Demetrious Johnson. So I step in this cage tonight and telling everybody that I’m retiring from mixed martial arts. I’m gonna pursue the other goals in life that make me more happy than fighting ever did.”
Happiness should definitely be the main factor for everyone in the end. And if his retirement sticks, Flick leaves the sport with a 16-5 record and a four-fight winning streak.