(After Dana caught Hughes sleeping on the job yet again, he figured it would be better to just give the former champ a cushy office position where no one would bother him anymore.)
Although former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes has been off everyone but PETA’s radar for the past couple of years, the MMA community has still been waiting on bated breath to see when the Hall of Famer would make an official announcement regarding his retirement for some time now. Hughes stated last October that he was “fully retired” but didn’t seem as if he had quite come to terms with hanging up his gloves just yet. That is, until earlier today at the UFC on Fox 6 press conference.
Along with the announcement of his retirement, Hughes also stated that he, like Chuck Liddell before him, would be accepting a front office position with the UFC titled “Vice President of Athlete Development and Government Relations.” That’s funny, here I thought the UFC was for the separation of church and state. *steals basketball and nails three pointer*
Anyway, Hughes had the following to say while assessing his current role in the promotion he has called home for the better part of his MMA career:
It’s funny, the road God puts you on; you just don’t know where you’re going to end up. What started out as a hobby brought me to the UFC and here in front of you know. I love this sport, and the new position is the best way for me to stay in it moving forward. I look forward to using my experience and providing a perspective for both the UFC and the fighters, so thank you guys.
(After Dana caught Hughes sleeping on the job yet again, he figured it would be better to just give the former champ a cushy office position where no one would bother him anymore.)
Although former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes has been off everyone but PETA’s radar for the past couple of years, the MMA community has still been waiting on bated breath to see when the Hall of Famer would make an official announcement regarding his retirement for some time now. Hughes stated last October that he was “fully retired” but didn’t seem as if he had quite come to terms with hanging up his gloves just yet. That is, until earlier today at the UFC on Fox 6 press conference.
Along with the announcement of his retirement, Hughes also stated that he, like Chuck Liddell before him, would be accepting a front office position with the UFC titled “Vice President of Athlete Development and Government Relations.” That’s funny, here I thought the UFC was for the separation of church and state. *steals basketball and nails three pointer*
Anyway, Hughes had the following to say while assessing his current role in the promotion he has called home for the better part of his MMA career:
It’s funny, the road God puts you on; you just don’t know where you’re going to end up. What started out as a hobby brought me to the UFC and here in front of you know. I love this sport, and the new position is the best way for me to stay in it moving forward. I look forward to using my experience and providing a perspective for both the UFC and the fighters, so thank you guys.
There you have it folks. Short, sweet, and pseudo-religious: classic Country Breakfast. We’ve placed the entire video of the UFC on Fox 6 press conference below for your viewing pleasure, so check it out, then pass along your favorite memories of Hughes in the comments section. Personally, my favorite Hughes moment came at UFC 38, when he nearly powerbombed Carlos Newton through the canvas and was so surprised by his own strength that he nearly passed out from the excitement. That’s how it went down, right?
(Things kick off around the 11:20 mark.)
Despite dropping his last two contests in the promotion to BJ Penn and Josh Koscheck, Hughes retires with the most wins in UFC History (18), as well as the most welterweight title defenses (7, tied with Georges St. Pierre), and the second most title fights (12), finishes in UFC title fights (8), and fights in UFC History (25), among other accolades. Another fun fact: Hughes defeated all but one of the former UFC Welterweight champions (Pat Militech) while active.
(And when I say “bitch,” I mean it in the politest sense of the word possible.)
*takes a seat in rocking chair, lights up corn cob pipe*
You know, kids, there used to be a time when words like “retirement,” “marriage,” and “my totally real dead girlfriend” used to mean something. Perhaps it was just a simpler time back then, but when a man (or a woman that had somehow shoehorned her way into an office environment) gathered his co-employees around and announced that he was hanging it up, it was meant to be permanent. Bill Russell never came back. Vince Lombardi never came back. Pete Maravich tried to come back and dropped dead on the spot. Retirement was supposed to be a one way street, paved with early bird discounts, cheap medications, and eventually death. Sweet, sweet death. But then Muhammed Ali had to go and ruin everything.
*sets down pipe to chase Jehovah’s Witnesses down sidewalk*
In the past couple years, we’ve seen such notable fighters as Jamie Varner, Matt Hamill, and Chris Lytle announce their retirement from MMA. Of those three, the first two have already returned to the sport, and the latter has suggested that he would fight again under the right circumstances. And now, you can add UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz to the list of fighters who feel they might have called it a career a bit early. In an interview with BloodyElbow, Ortiz stated that he would be open to the idea of coming out of retirement, but only once all of the injuries that have plagued his MMA career since ever were finally dealt with:
Right now, I’m only four weeks out of neck surgery, and then I have to get the ACL surgery. I still need to recover from that before I start thinking about anything, and if I’ll compete again. You never know, I may come out of retirement. It’s all about how my body recovers.
(And when I say “bitch,” I mean it in the politest sense of the word possible.)
*takes a seat in rocking chair, lights up corn cob pipe*
You know, kids, there used to be a time when words like “retirement,” “marriage,” and “my totally real dead girlfriend” used to mean something. Perhaps it was just a simpler time back then, but when a man (or a woman that had somehow shoehorned her way into an office environment) gathered his co-employees around and announced that he was hanging it up, it was meant to be permanent. Bill Russell never came back. Vince Lombardi never came back. Pete Maravich tried to come back and dropped dead on the spot. Retirement was supposed to be a one way street, paved with early bird discounts, cheap medications, and eventually death. Sweet, sweet death. But then Muhammed Ali had to go and ruin everything.
*sets down pipe to chase Jehovah’s Witnesses down sidewalk*
In the past couple years, we’ve seen such notable fighters as Jamie Varner, Matt Hamill, and Chris Lytle announce their retirement from MMA. Of those three, the first two have already returned to the sport, and the latter has suggested that he would fight again under the right circumstances. And now, you can add UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz to the list of fighters who feel they might have called it a career a bit early. In an interview with BloodyElbow, Ortiz stated that he would be open to the idea of coming out of retirement, but only once all of the injuries that have plagued his MMA career since ever were finally dealt with:
Right now, I’m only four weeks out of neck surgery, and then I have to get the ACL surgery. I still need to recover from that before I start thinking about anything, and if I’ll compete again. You never know, I may come out of retirement. It’s all about how my body recovers.
Having collected just one win in the past six years, it’s safe to say that Ortiz has yet to come to the conclusion that his buddy and fellow UFC HOFer Chuck Liddell has: It’s not a question of whether you still want to compete or not, it’s a question of whether you still can. And for a guy who exaggerates his injuries as bad as Ortiz does, it would be best to assume that the former LHW champ is being optimistic over realistic here. This notion would be driven home when Ortiz declared that he would come out of retirement “without hesitation” to fight, you guessed it, Frank Stallone Shamrock, the notorious UFC castaway who punched Ortiz into submission way back at UFC 22. On my personal list of fantasy fights, that rematch is just below Michael Bisping vs. Fedor on Zeus’ shoulders, and they can both punch but only Zeus can kick.
Of course, Ortiz didn’t state outright that he planned on coming out of retirement, and in fact seemed to be leaning towards the opposite. Mainly, towards that of his budding career in fighter management, which has already gotten off to a great start:
Right now, the number one priority for me is to run my businesses. I want to show that I’m a great businessman. I’ve shown that through my clothing company, and now I want to focus on my management company. I want to focus on my family and give my children all the things that I never had. Right now, the chances of me coming out of retirement are about 1 in a million.
I’m sick of surgeries. I don’t want to have to worry about possibly getting paralyzed or sustaining some lifelong injury. I have three kids I have to take care of. I have a family to take care of. That’s the number one thing in my life. I was able to make a lot of money with the UFC, and I’m so thankful to them for that. I worked very hard to get to where I am today, and I just want to be the father that I never had growing up.
Oh, Tito, you sly dog you. First you tell us it’s just a matter of some nagging injuries needing to be addressed, and now all of a sudden you’ve got this “family” and these “health concerns” to worry about? Well, you’ll excuse me, but I ain’t buying it. Start the twitter-bombing campaign now, Potato Nation: ORTIZ vs. (Frank) SHAMROCK II at UFC 157!! WHO’S WITH ME?!
In July, the legendary Tito Ortiz was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. This distinguished honor came shortly before his final fight before hanging up the gloves for good: a rubber match against good-natured rival Forrest Griffin. Before the fight, Ortiz announced that his time as an active fighter had come to an end, […]
In July, the legendary Tito Ortiz was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. This distinguished honor came shortly before his final fight before hanging up the gloves for good: a rubber match against good-natured rival Forrest Griffin. Before the fight, Ortiz announced that his time as an active fighter had come to an end, […]
Following his first-round submission loss to Gegard Mousasi at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event, Mike Kylereportedly told Ariel Helwani that he was throwing in the towel on his MMA career: “It’s not in me anymore. That was my last one,” Kyle said. Assuming that the 32-year-old AKA product keeps his word, Kyle’s overall record ends at 19-9-1 with 2 no-contests, competing as a heavyweight and light-heavyweight over the last 12 years.
How you react to this news will probably depend on how long you’ve been following the sport. If you’re a relatively new fan, you probably think of Kyle — if you think of him at all — as one of Strikeforce’s dependable space-fillers, who was always there when a guy like Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva or Fabricio Werdum needed an opponent. Kyle’s single greatest accomplishment over the last three years was his upset knockout of Rafael “Feijao” Cavlacante in June 2009; their rematch last year ended in a 33-second submission loss for Kyle, but the result was overturned due to the Brazilian slugger failing a drug test.
But if you’ve been an MMA fan for a long time, you might still think of Mike Kyle as a scumbag, a shameful black mark on an already nasty business. Here’s how we summarized Kyle’s greatest hits in our “10 Most Despicable People in MMA” list from April 2008, where we stuck Kyle at #3, between Nazi fighter Melvin Costa (#4) and UFC president Dana White (#2):
Bit Wes Sims‘s chest during their fight at UFC 47. Repeatedly kneed Justin Eilers in the balls during their fight at UFC 49. Poked Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the eye during a Pancrase match in October 2005. Poked Krzysztof Soszynski in the eye during a Strikeforce match in March 2006. Two months later, he illegally soccer kicked Brian Olsen during a WEC match, knocking him out, then punched him several times while he was unconscious, despite the ref’s efforts to pull Kyle off…
Following his first-round submission loss to Gegard Mousasi at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event, Mike Kylereportedly told Ariel Helwani that he was throwing in the towel on his MMA career: “It’s not in me anymore. That was my last one,” Kyle said. Assuming that the 32-year-old AKA product keeps his word, Kyle’s overall record ends at 19-9-1 with 2 no-contests, competing as a heavyweight and light-heavyweight over the last 12 years.
How you react to this news will probably depend on how long you’ve been following the sport. If you’re a relatively new fan, you probably think of Kyle — if you think of him at all — as one of Strikeforce’s dependable space-fillers, who was always there when a guy like Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva or Fabricio Werdum needed an opponent. Kyle’s single greatest accomplishment over the last three years was his upset knockout of Rafael “Feijao” Cavlacante in June 2009; their rematch last year ended in a 33-second submission loss for Kyle, but the result was overturned due to the Brazilian slugger failing a drug test.
But if you’ve been an MMA fan for a long time, you might still think of Mike Kyle as a scumbag, a shameful black mark on an already nasty business. Here’s how we summarized Kyle’s greatest hits in our “10 Most Despicable People in MMA” list from April 2008, where we stuck Kyle at #3, between Nazi fighter Melvin Costa (#4) and UFC president Dana White (#2):
Bit Wes Sims‘s chest during their fight at UFC 47. Repeatedly kneed Justin Eilers in the balls during their fight at UFC 49. Poked Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the eye during a Pancrase match in October 2005. Poked Krzysztof Soszynski in the eye during a Strikeforce match in March 2006. Two months later, he illegally soccer kicked Brian Olsen during a WEC match, knocking him out, then punched him several times while he was unconscious, despite the ref’s efforts to pull Kyle off…
The awful incident — which also earned a spot on our Black Eyes: MMA’s 13 Most Shameful Moments of All Time list — can be seen here. In an interview with ADCC News the following week, Olsen discussed the extent of his injuries (“I have fractured the zygomatic and maxillary bones on the left side of my face. I also broke my nose and ruptured a sinus cavity in my nose…I will have plates and screws in my face permanently”), and called for Mike Kyle to be banned from the sport:
“You are only creating problems by booking Mike Kyle. He has solidified his position as the dirtiest fighter in the world. Who is to say he would not do this again?…After my surgery, I will consider any legal action possible that I can pursue against Kyle and anyone associated with him being a fighter.”
The California State Athletic Commission suspended Mike Kyle indefinitely, and he wouldn’t compete until two years later, when he was armbarred by Wayne Cole in 45 seconds at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le. In a way, it was the best possible result. Nobody wanted to see Kyle triumph in his comeback fight. He needed to do his penance.
But the narrative changed after that night. Kyle won eight out of his next ten fights and did his best to come across as a reformed human being. Following his win over Abongo Humphrey in July 2010, Strikeforce broadcaster Mauro Ranallo announced that the victory signaled “the resurrection of a career once thought ruined.” Sure, Kyle caught a no-contest in February 2010 for maybe-accidentally knocking out Travis Wiuff after the bell, and yeah, there was that time that he started head-butting Bigfoot in the chest for no apparent reason, but for the most part Mike Kyle remained on his best behavior during the second half of his career. Who knows what kind of self-control that required?
Officially, Mike Kyle leaves the sport on a one-fight losing streak, but the loss to Mousasi was symbolic: He’d already been blown out by Strikeforce’s top heavyweights, and if he couldn’t handle a Gegard Mousasi who was coming back from a year-long injury layoff, his future at light-heavyweight was limited as well. Kyle knew that. Like he said, it wasn’t in him anymore.
In the end, what’s most disappointing about Kyle’s career is that it had the potential to be an incredible redemption story, but his inconsistent performances prevented him from achieving his happy ending. If Kyle had won Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight belt, even once, we might remember him more for that, instead of for the night he destroyed Brian Olsen’s face with a frenzy of illegal blows, and had to be restrained by a mob of referees and officials. Was it a temporary (and forgivable) moment of adrenaline-fueled insanity, or a glimpse of his sociopathic character? Either way, it permanently established Mike Kyle’s reputation, and he’ll have to live with that forever.
In April 2011, Dan Severn became just the second fighter in MMA history to earn his 100th professional victory, following workaholic journeyman Travis Fulton. The simple fact that Severn was still an active cage-fighter 17 years after his UFC debut was surprising enough — let alone that he was still competing at least four times a year while in his 50s, and regularly whooping dudes half his age.
Joining the “100 Club” turned out to be the last great achievement in Severn’s marathon combat sports career, which is marked by a pair of All-American honors as a wrestler at Arizona State University, an induction into ASU’s wrestling Hall of Fame, two eight-man tournament sweeps in the UFC (at UFC 5 and Ultimate Ultimate 1995), a UFC Superfight Championship title, and an induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. On Monday, Dan “The Beast” Severn announced his official retirement from MMA at the age of 54, leaving an astounding career record of 101-19-7. Here’s his statement, taken from dansevern.com:
“Another Chapter, Comes to a Close”
The number one goal that I set for myself in 2012 was to be finished with my Mix Martial Arts Competition career. I was attempting to do my own self-directed retirement tour in the last couple of years reaching out to only three people…Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, and Royce Gracie. I spoke to two of them directly (Mark, and Ken), and through representative (MGR) for Royce. It seems as though these matches will not take place for whatever reasons and my life now goes on to the next chapter.
In April 2011, Dan Severn became just the second fighter in MMA history to earn his 100th professional victory, following workaholic journeyman Travis Fulton. The simple fact that Severn was still an active cage-fighter 17 years after his UFC debut was surprising enough — let alone that he was still competing at least four times a year while in his 50s, and regularly whooping dudes half his age.
Joining the “100 Club” turned out to be the last great achievement in Severn’s marathon combat sports career, which is marked by a pair of All-American honors as a wrestler at Arizona State University, an induction into ASU’s wrestling Hall of Fame, two eight-man tournament sweeps in the UFC (at UFC 5 and Ultimate Ultimate 1995), a UFC Superfight Championship title, and an induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. On Monday, Dan “The Beast” Severn announced his official retirement from MMA at the age of 54, leaving an astounding career record of 101-19-7. Here’s his statement, taken from dansevern.com:
“Another Chapter, Comes to a Close”
The number one goal that I set for myself in 2012 was to be finished with my Mix Martial Arts Competition career. I was attempting to do my own self-directed retirement tour in the last couple of years reaching out to only three people…Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, and Royce Gracie. I spoke to two of them directly (Mark, and Ken), and through representative (MGR) for Royce. It seems as though these matches will not take place for whatever reasons and my life now goes on to the next chapter.
I will still be involved with MMA working with various companies to support the industry, and help to take it on to the next level in roles such as: Play by play color commentator, Commissioner, Goodwill Ambassador, doing appearances, etc, etc., just no longer the competitor. The MMA workshops and seminars will continue. I have a lot of fun with them and enjoy the interaction with the young competitors as they are just commencing their careers especially when they learn a new technique, or a competition tactic, and seeing the excitement in their eyes, and hearing it in their voice.
2013 will be my final year in Professional Wrestling as a performer. So Promoters be warned. If you have been thinking about utilizing my skills as a performer, contact me and we’ll make it happen in this upcoming year. I will continue just like in MMA to be involved in it, teaching it, running shows, doing appearances and such, just no longer the entertainer.
Severn added that he’ll also be spending more time on combat training seminars and public speaking, and plans to write a memoir filled with stories from his life. He concludes:
“I have had a life with much success but not without its cost. That cost was family time. The past couple of years I have tried to spend more time with family, and will continue to do so. It has been difficult to juggle so many different parts of my career, but that is when opportunity presented itself…such as my MMA career beginning at the age of 37, and now ending at age 54. Father time is telling me, it is time to let go. I have learned over time that the only constant factor is change. It will happen, and there is nothing we can do to stop it, so smile, hold on, and embrace it for all that it has to offer and hopefully you too will have the ride of your life!!!! Happy New Year!!!!!”
“Standing 6’2”, weighing a stout 250 pounds, and sporting a ferocious mustache, Dan Severn was the UFC’s original big scary wrestler — the forefather of all the Brock Lesnars and Ryan Baders of the world. [Ed. note: Man, 2009 was a different time, huh.] Though his first attempt to win a UFC tournament got derailed by a Royce Gracie triangle choke at UFC 4, the two-time All-American wrestler returned four months later to sweep the eight-man bracket at UFC 5. Severn went on to win the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 tourney, avenged an earlier loss to Ken Shamrock at UFC 9, and fought 100 more times after that...
The Beast proved that you didn’t need to be a jiu-jitsu master to own people on the ground. His gameplan was simple but effective: 1) Take your opponent down. 2) Wrap your arm around his neck. 3) Get your hand raised by Big John. Strikers were immediately taken out of their element, and other grapplers were simply unable to deal with his size and power. Finally, America had its own Ultimate Fighting hero.
Severn’s success in the UFC paved the way for other hulking heavyweight wrestlers like Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman — who defeated Severn during his final Octagon appearance at UFC 12 — to enter the UFC and have their own dominant runs, rudely interrupting the early dominance of Gracie jiu-jitsu.
Though Severn’s time at the top of the heap was over by 1997, he never stopped competing. But unlike other MMA pioneers who continued fighting after their prime, Severn never embarrassed himself in the process. He wasn’t a punch-drunk shell of his former self, taking beatings just to pay the rent. He traveled the world winning far more often than he lost, scoring victories over notable names like Paul Buentello, the aforementioned Travis Fulton (three times!), Wes Sims, Forrest Griffin, Justin Eilers, and Colin Robinson.
Following his 100th victory, Severn suffered a pair of knockout losses to Ryan Fortin and Lee Beane. It was the first time that Severn had been KO’d in back-to-back fights, and signaled that the end was growing near for his competitive career. (This was another unfortunate red flag.) As he explained to us in his first Ask Dan column last November, training had become less of a priority due to family obligations:
“I can’t regret taking the [Beane] fight but it didn’t happen at the best time in my career. What the fans see is one aspect but they don’t have a clue as to what I endured for 3 ½ to 4 months before the fight in terms of taking care of my father. Prior to my last fight, my siblings and I were providing home hospice-type care for my father and since I have the most flexible schedule, I was the primary caregiver during the normal working day times. On weekends I would leave late Friday and would be back late Sunday to resume my duties. And I would not change that for the world.”
If you never knew him personally, it’s easy to think of Severn in terms of caricature — the roaring, black-shorted bear-man from Coldwater, Michigan. For me, those Ask Dan columns revealed so much about Dan’s personality and character, and I recommend perusing them if you never got a chance to do so. They show Dan as a thoughtful historian of the sport with a sharp sense of humor and a genuine regard for humanity. Unlike so many other athletes who get into MMA, Severn’s goal was to inflict as little damage as possible in his fights; he had a hard time bringing himself to throw strikes in his early career, as he didn’t want to cause his opponents any unnecessary pain.
That’s the kind of man he was. Despite Eddie Goldman’s claim to the title, Dan Severn was the true “conscience of MMA.” Say goodbye to one of the good guys.
(You can’t see his face from this angle, but we’re guessing it looked something like this. / Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click for full-size version.)
The stunt-journalism powerhouse known as VICE magazine has launched its own MMA site called Fightland, which features the kind of on-the-scene video profiles and thought-provoking prose that we’ve come to expect from that crew. In particular, we recommend their new interview with Jonathan Brookins, who was just submitted by Dustin Poirier at the TUF 16 Finale. Short version: We’re going to have to start preparing a “And Now He’s Retired” post for this guy, because his days in the sport might be numbered. Here’s what the former Ultimate Fighter winner had to say about his fateful meeting with “The Diamond” and the uncomfortable realizations he made that night:
“It’s not hard to make a career in the UFC. If you really want it, you can make it happen. I think I just talked myself of really wanting it. I don’t know if I talked myself out of it or if I really don’t want it anymore. That made it tough to keep going and to fight last weekend. I didn’t really have much fight left in me. I kind of hit a dead end.
I definitely had my mind on other things I wanted to do and pursue. I just stopped believing in the fight business and stopped believing in what it was I was even doing. I just didn’t quite understand. There wasn’t much that I wanted about that (Poirier) fight…This quest to be a fighter has gotten to be frivolous, to be the wrong pursuit. I know it can be pursued the right way, but I know I’m not anywhere close to it. I’m not really down to live this temporary, right-now way of life…
Before the fight I came in a little bit overweight. Mostly because I was bounding around a lot – living in Oregon then New York then Montreal. But everything was real sporadic. So I was cutting weight, and I went to a bikram yoga class, something I do all the time. This was Wednesday, and the weigh-in was Friday. I started to get real dizzy after running that morning and sitting in a salt bath and then the yoga class. I got dizzy like I was going to pass out. By the end of the class, I was cramping up. My feet were cramping. By the end of the class I think I hit severe dehydration. My legs cramped up really bad. I couldn’t move. I was exhausted, like I was going to die. My neck, back, and chest all cramped up. I felt tired and weak. I started throwing up all night and was real sick.
(You can’t see his face from this angle, but we’re guessing it looked something like this. / Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click for full-size version.)
The stunt-journalism powerhouse known as VICE magazine has launched its own MMA site called Fightland, which features the kind of on-the-scene video profiles and thought-provoking prose that we’ve come to expect from that crew. In particular, we recommend their new interview with Jonathan Brookins, who was just submitted by Dustin Poirier at the TUF 16 Finale. Short version: We’re going to have to start preparing a “And Now He’s Retired” post for this guy, because his days in the sport might be numbered. Here’s what the former Ultimate Fighter winner had to say about his fateful meeting with “The Diamond” and the uncomfortable realizations he made that night:
“It’s not hard to make a career in the UFC. If you really want it, you can make it happen. I think I just talked myself of really wanting it. I don’t know if I talked myself out of it or if I really don’t want it anymore. That made it tough to keep going and to fight last weekend. I didn’t really have much fight left in me. I kind of hit a dead end.
I definitely had my mind on other things I wanted to do and pursue. I just stopped believing in the fight business and stopped believing in what it was I was even doing. I just didn’t quite understand. There wasn’t much that I wanted about that (Poirier) fight…This quest to be a fighter has gotten to be frivolous, to be the wrong pursuit. I know it can be pursued the right way, but I know I’m not anywhere close to it. I’m not really down to live this temporary, right-now way of life…
Before the fight I came in a little bit overweight. Mostly because I was bounding around a lot – living in Oregon then New York then Montreal. But everything was real sporadic. So I was cutting weight, and I went to a bikram yoga class, something I do all the time. This was Wednesday, and the weigh-in was Friday. I started to get real dizzy after running that morning and sitting in a salt bath and then the yoga class. I got dizzy like I was going to pass out. By the end of the class, I was cramping up. My feet were cramping. By the end of the class I think I hit severe dehydration. My legs cramped up really bad. I couldn’t move. I was exhausted, like I was going to die. My neck, back, and chest all cramped up. I felt tired and weak. I started throwing up all night and was real sick.
I thought about quitting the fight. I was dehydrated, but I still had six or seven pounds to lose. Everything was all off. So I was asking myself, “What do you really want out of this experience?” And all I could think about was going to India. You already know you fucked your body up; there’s no way you’re going to recover fully in just a couple of days. Why would I go ahead with the fight instead of asking to reschedule? Then I thought about going to India in January. That was loud and clear.
At the weigh-ins, I could see myself on the Jumbotron. I was like, “Shit man, you look kind of pathetic. You don’t look like you’re ready to fight; you look skinny.” The kid (Poirier) walks up to me after the weigh-ins and gets in my face and says, “I want it more than you.” All tough guy: “I want it more than you, bro.” I was like, “What the fuck? How does this kid know he wanted it more than me?” It was an interesting thing to say but it was really true. It was the weirdest true shit-talking I’d ever heard in my life. Usually people just talk shit and you’ve got a rebuttal. That was the first time it really made me think.”
If that all sounds familiar, maybe it’s because our writer Elias Cepeda discussed the exact same thing in his Travel Chronicles series: Once your mind starts seducing you into quitting — with the lures of distant adventures and the release from physical pain — you might as well tap right then, because the fight is already lost.
Elsewhere in the Fightland piece, Brookins talks about losing his house in Orlando because he couldn’t afford the payments, and how he’d be “open” to not fighting again, if his trip to India leads him in that direction. Check it out.
