For One UFC Vet, Honest Self-Reflection Prompts Career Change

Filed under: UFCEvery fighter starts with dreams of greatness. Championship belts, screaming crowds – the whole deal. It’s normal. It’s rational, in its own way. It’s the special brand of optimism that comes with feeling young and invincible.

Antoni H…

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Every fighter starts with dreams of greatness. Championship belts, screaming crowds – the whole deal. It’s normal. It’s rational, in its own way. It’s the special brand of optimism that comes with feeling young and invincible.

Antoni Hardonk was no different in that regard. But there came a point when he had to be honest with himself about where he was headed and what he was capable of.

“In your twenties, you don’t think about the future as much,” the Dutch kickboxer and UFC veteran told MMA Fighting recently. “You do whatever you feel like doing and you don’t think about it. In your thirties, the future is more of a consideration. For me, I’m a good competitor, I have some talent, but I can’t retire on that. I can survive, but that’s basically it. So I decided I had to move on.”