Have you ever had one of those things you knew was coming but when it happened you still didn’t feel like you were prepared? That’s how we feel about Tim Kennedy’s post on facebook. In the recent post, Kennedy announces his retirement at the tender age of 37 and gives his reasons as why this should be the end. It’s the age old story, when the body won’t react as fast as the mind wants, and the things you once did you cannot do anymore. In this heartfelt letter, Kennedy thanks everyone involved in his MMA career and even calls out some legendary fighters by name. Robbie Lawler, why you gotta hit so hard?
Have you ever had one of those things you knew was coming but when it happened you still didn’t feel like you were prepared? That’s how we feel about Tim Kennedy’s post on facebook. In the recent post, Kennedy announces his retirement at the tender age of 37 and gives his reasons as why this should be the end. It’s the age old story, when the body won’t react as fast as the mind wants, and the things you once did you cannot do anymore. In this heartfelt letter, Kennedy thanks everyone involved in his MMA career and even calls out some legendary fighters by name. Robbie Lawler, why you gotta hit so hard?
I’m not always the sentimental type but if this doesn’t make you feel something you might be a sociopath or a Russian spy. Either way, enjoy.
Probably one of the best retirement speeches we have ever read. If you followed it all the way to the end you’ll notice he alluded to the Mixed Martial Arts Athelete’s Association when he mentioned some of the young fighters like Paige Vanzant and securing their futures. So it seems Kennedy will still be on the scene.
Not many people can walk the line between crazy and class act, and Tim Kennedy did just that. Range on Mr. Kennedy, Ranger on.
It’s been three years since Georges St. Pierre last competed in the octagon, three years the former champ has gloriously spent selling booze, signing boobs and unearthing dinosaur bones. It’s a life that stood in stark contrast to what we come to see from St. Pierre in the latter stages of his career — the self-doubt, the anxiety, the onslaught of strikes he was beginning to absorb in each fight — and one that GSP himself admitted to being more than content with. Georges St. Pierre was one of the all-too rare fighters to recognize that his best days were behind him and that is was best to step away from the sport while he still had his facilities intact.
It’s been three years since Georges St. Pierre last competed in the octagon, three years the former champ has gloriously spent selling booze, signing boobs and unearthing dinosaur bones. It’s a life that stood in stark contrast to what we come to see from St. Pierre in the latter stages of his career — the self-doubt, the anxiety, the onslaught of strikes he was beginning to absorb in each fight — and one that GSP himself admitted to being more than content with. Georges St. Pierre was one of the all-too rare fighters to recognize that his best days were behind him and that is was best to step away from the sport while he still had his facilities intact.
And now, he’s ready to take it all back.
On yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour, St. Pierre dropped the bomb that he was not only ready to return to the cage, but already had a fight in mind for when he does.
“What I did is I did a training camp to see where I’m at,” said St-Pierre. “I’ve been training, but being in shape and being in fighting shape is something different. I did a training to push myself and go back to the highest level of competition. I didn’t fight, but I put myself through a training camp and I sparred and everything, and I did it successfully. Now I know for a fact that I could go back and fight, if my management and the UFC get to an agreement.”
“I love my sport and I still feel I’m at my best right now. The clock is running. I’m not getting any younger. I’m in the peak of my career and if there is a shot, there is another goal, another run, I better do it and do it quick, because it is time to do it now.”
It’s a statement that sounds undoubtedly familiar to fight fans. GSP, like countless fighters before him, got a taste of the normal life and decided that he would rather go through the hell that is mixed martial arts to prove that he’s “still got it.” It’s not hard to see why he’d think such a thing; he did, after all, step away from the sport with the belt in hand and an incredible 9 title defenses to his credit. But you can’t help shake the feeling that “the clock is running” and “I’m not getting any younger” aren’t exactly the greatest reasons for returning to one of the most dangerous sports on the planet.
Our own Trent Reinsmith further elaborated on why GSP should stay retired back when the news was still fresh in our minds:
St-Pierre left the sport as one of the top five (or better) fighters of all time. If he comes back and loses, not only will his legacy be tarnished, but it’s entirely feasible that the UFC would use that loss to further step on what St-Pierre has contributed to the promotion. The UFC machine would undoubtedly use a victory over St-Pierre as the launching point of a media campaign for whatever fighter defeated the mid-30’s version of St-Pierre.
Plus, St-Pierre doesn’t need to fight. He’s made his millions; he’s appearing in movies, he has sponsorship deals. He’s doing exactly what (almost) every professional fighter dreams of doing: making money without getting punched in the head by the likes of Johny Hendricks or Nick Diaz.
This isn’t to mention that, in unretiring, St. Pierre would be casting himself back into the arms of the very people that buried him when he chose to step away from the sport in the first place. Does anyone even remember the unjustifiably dickish language that Dana White used to try and pressure St. Pierre into an immediate rematch with Johny Hendricks? Here, let us remind you…
“You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to this company, and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re gonna retire…There’s no ‘Hey listen I’m gonna go on a cruise and be gone for two years.’”
You hear that? Forget the fact that George St. Pierre had spent the past nine years bleeding for the UFC and netting them millions of dollars in the process, or that he was questioning not only his future health but how the lax drug-testing policies of the promotion he was fighting for were affecting it, he was a fighter, and fighters fight whether they want to or not! Are you not entertained?! ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!!!
Why in God’s name would St. Pierre want to sign up for that circus again? The answer, or so it seems, is glory. Later on in his interview, St. Pierre then moved on to who he would like to face upon his return. His answer? Newly-crowned middleweight champ Michael Bisping.
“Look, it’s something big,” said St. Pierre. “You just give me the chills thinking about it, because it’s not the first time that people have mentioned it. I’m sure Michael and his side people have talked to him about it, because he creates a lot of buzz. I always said if I come back, I would come back for something very big. Bisping is the man to beat right now. He beat Silva, he knocked out Rockhold, Rockhold beat Jacare and Weidman. [Bisping is] bigger than me. [When I was fighting as a welterweight] I never really considered going up and going back down after, because I was the welterweight champion. Now that I’ve retired, I can make things more experimentally. I could, if I want to, fight at lightweight, as well. It would be easy for me. I could fight at welterweight, and I can also fight at middleweight. I’m not a big welterweight, and even though Michael Bisping is bigger than me, I believe if I fight him, I believe I’ll beat him.”
For what it’s worth, Bisping seems up for the bout, no doubt because it would easily make for the most lucrative of his career. And look, I’m not here to play the moral police and question whether or not GSP “should” come back from a mental health standpoint. As far as I see it, George St. Pierre is a grown-ass man who can do what he pleases, even if that means losing a few more million brain cells in a half baked quest to recapture the glory of his former self. He’s no different than Fedor Emelianenko, even if the latter’s most recent performance should serve as a shining example of why he probably *shouldn’t* come back. Completing a training camp is one thing, but actually getting back in the ring and squaring off against a bigger opponent than anyone you’ve ever faced before seem’s like a fool’s errand to me. Then again, that’s why one of us is a legend of the game and the other a legend in his own mind.
The point is…well, I’m not really sure. George St. Pierre has his mind set on coming back and the UFC is more than willing to make that a reality, so I guess all we can do now is watch the fight and wait until the aftermath to start questioning how terrible the UFC, MMA fans, and the members of the MMA media should feel for watching it in the first place. At least St. Pierre can do so knowing that the sport’s drug-testing policies are finally in order.
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier took to social media Sunday afternoon in order to pay homage to longtime friend and manager Bob Cook. In a recent Instagram post the 37 year-old champion eluded to ‘completing the journey’ following July’s blockbuster event. The former USA Olympic wrestling team captain began his MMA career at the age of 30 in
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier took to social media Sunday afternoon in order to pay homage to longtime friend and manager Bob Cook. In a recent Instagram post the 37 year-old champion eluded to ‘completing the journey’ following July’s blockbuster event.
A photo posted by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on
The former USA Olympic wrestling team captain began his MMA career at the age of 30 in Strikeforce, defeating Gary Frazier via 2nd round TKO. Over the years, Cormier would earn an undefeated MMA record of 15-0, finishing 10 of those bouts, before taking on the then champion Jon Jones at UFC 182.
Cormier would suffer his first professional MMA loss to Jones via unanimous decision after undergoing a war of words, as well as a physical altercation at a press event, in the months leading up to the light heavyweight showdown.
After Jones was stripped of the title due to legal troubles, Cormier would go on to beat Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson for the vacant belt at UFC 187 in May of last year. DC would also successfully defend his title against top contender Alexander Gustafsson via split decision at UFC 192 five months following his title victory.
Now after a year of patience and obsession DC will get his shot at redemption for his only professional loss, when he defends his UFC light heavyweight championship against hated rival Jon Jones.
The heated rivalry will headline the UFC’s July blockbuster UFC 200 in Las Vegas’ brand-new T-Mobile Arena, as Jones attempts to reclaim the title he never lost and Cormier looks to successfully defend his title against the only man to have ever defeated him inside the Octagon.
Since announcing his retirement and thrusting the MMA world into a frenzy, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has finally come out of the shadows to tell his side of the story. McGregor issued a statement on his Facebook page Thursday claiming: “I am just trying to do my job and fight here. I am paid to
“I am just trying to do my job and fight here. I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote”.
McGregor then spoke of his lengthly media obligations in the past, and how they may have finally caught up with him in his UFC 196 defeat to Nate Diaz.
“There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop. 50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photo shoots, and at the end of it all I’m left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this.”
“Notorious” then described his request with the UFC to allow him to do a bit more training rather than promoting:
“I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again.I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment.But it was denied.”
The Irishman then explained his retirement tweet as a ploy to generate promotion for the event as a gesture of good will:
“There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me. So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them. And all with one tweet. Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.”
McGregor did offer one final, and what seems to be non-negotiable, solution to the predicament with the UFC:
“I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions. If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don’t know what to say.”
Finally “The Notorious One” answered the question that has been on all our minds, fans and media alike:
“For the record also – For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations – I AM NOT RETIRED.”
According to UFC president Dana White, “Notorious” and UFC brass bumped heads over the promotional scheduling for UFC 200 as it conflicted with the Irishman’s training. McGregor refused to attend the press conference that is scheduled to take place this Friday in Las Vegas, and thus was removed from the card by White. McGregor responded by sending out this Tweet that would send fight-fan’s worlds upside-down:
I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya’s later.
UFC brass has yet to officially respond to this statement, as a result it is unknown if they will stick to their guns and keep the Irishman off of the blockbuster card.
According to multiple sources, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has suddenly, inexplicably, opted to retire from mixed martial arts. Except that he probably hasn’t. Except that he *has* been pulled from his UFC 200 rematch with Nate Diaz. Honestly, no one really knows what the Hell is going on right now, but head after the jump for all the details.
According to multiple sources, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has suddenly, inexplicably, opted to retire from mixed martial arts. Except that he probably hasn’t. Except that he *has* been pulled from his UFC 200 rematch with Nate Diaz. Honestly, no one really knows what the Hell is going on right now, but head after the jump for all the details.
Yesterday afternoon, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor sent out the following tweet:
I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later.
It was almost immediately dismissed by those of us “in the know” as the little more than the latest publicity stunt from the McGregor camp — possibly a tactic to get in the head of Nate Diaz ahead of their welterweight rematch scheduled for UFC 200 (I guess?). We all had a good chuckle about it, in either case, until late last night when rumors began to circulate that this thing was at least semi legitimate.
McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, echoed the sentiment of McGregor’s retirement with a tweet of his own, writing, “Well was fun while it lasted.” Then, Ariel Helwani tweeted out that “Multiple sources are adamant at this time that McGregor’s tweet isn’t a joke, troll job or hoax of any kind. Reason(s) behind it is unclear.” But media speculation is just that: speculation.
Of course, when Dana White then went on Sportscenter to announce that McGregor had been pulled from his UFC 200 headliner for failing to make the necessary media appearances earlier in the week, it began to feel like McGregor’s retirement was at least semi-legitimate. The question then became: Why? Had McGregor suddenly been afflicted with a personal tragedy? Was this the latest result of his repeated “clashes” with the UFC brass? WHAT THE F*CK IS HAPPENING?!!!
The reasoning behind McGregor’s shocking announcement seems to boil down to one of three things:
If you haven’t heard, Brazilian fighter Joao Carvalho tragically passed away last week following a TKO loss to McGregor’s SBG teammate, Charlie Ward. The heartbreaking death has stirred up some intense feelings from Irish media about MMA’s place in the country in the time since, and McGregor — who witnessed the fight first hand — seemed to take the news of his passing harder than most.
“To see a young man doing what he loves, competing for a chance at a better life, and then to have it taken away is truly heartbreaking,” wrote McGregor in a Facebook post last week.
“We are just men and women doing something we love in the hope of a better life for ourselves and our families. Nobody involved in combat sports of any kind wants to see this. It is such a rare occurrence that I don’t know how to take this.
I was ringside supporting my teammate, and the fight was so back and forth, that I just can’t understand it.
My condolences go out to Joao’s family and his team. Their man was a hell of a fighter and will be sorely missed by all.
Combat sport is a crazy game and with the recent incident in boxing and now this in MMA, it is a sad time to be a fighter and a fight fan.
It is easy for those on the outside to criticise our way of living, but for the millions of people around the world who have had their lives, their health, their fitness and their mental strength all changed for the better through combat, this is truly a bitter pill to swallow. We have lost one of us.
I hope we remember Joao as a champion, who pursued his dream doing what he loved, and show him the eternal respect and admiration he deserves.”
It could be entirely possible that McGregor decision to hang up his gloves was not only influenced by the shaking realization of how dangerous this sport can be, but by the fact that he was supposed to appear in Vegas just days after it to promote an event as if nothing had happened. Then again, if that was the case, why would McGregor be posting photos like this just days ago?
Of course, there’s also another possibility behind McGregor’s retirement…
2. A Bluff Gone Wrong
It’s been rumored for sometime now that McGregor has been clashing with the UFC brass over the most obvious of issues: Money. McGregor is a smart guy, realizes that he’s by far the UFC’s biggest draw, and has been demanding increasingly exorbitant paychecks as a result.
“Conor had a deal with the UFC. And Conor’s now going back and trying to renegotiate and it just doesn’t work that way. It can’t. You can’t write everything down, you can’t get your contracts done all the time in this business. There’s 500 guys under contract. There’s not even that many employees in the UFC. I think there’s like 340 employees with 500 fighters. There’s 53 shows scheduled for a year that only has 52 weeks in the year. You have to be able to make a phone call, count on whatever the guy says, hang up the phone and that’s the end of it. You have to be able to do that.
According to a tweet sent out by TV sports personality Charly Arnolt late last night, McGregor was demanding $10 million dollars to rematch Nate Diaz at UFC 200, a number significantly higher than *any* UFC fighter has ever been paid before.
Source: Conor McGregor wants approx $10M for #UFC200–more than anyone else in past for single fight. #UFC said no, so he retired.
Now, McGregor has always been a big picture guy, to the point that he’s openly discussed eventually leaving the UFC to promote his own fights. Just as Floyd Mayweather became the kajillionaire that he is today after he decided to leave Bob Arum behind to found Mayweather Promotions, McGregor may very well be using his popularity as a tool to hold the UFC hostage in a negotiation. Lord knows he has earned enough money to sit back for a while until the UFC decides to pony up, but would he really risk everything on a bluff?
According to Chael Sonnen, yes, he would. During a Facebook live chat last night, Sonnen speculated that McGregor had bit off more than he could chew in attempting to bluff the UFC brass.
“Conor has a contract, he made a deal, somewhere he didn’t sign it. Let the promotion go out, let the money get spent and then realized ‘I’ve got the upper hand. Now I can come back and renegotiate. Who’s going to tell me no when the advertising is already done?’ That’s what he did. Guaranteed. With no inside knowledge, guaranteed that’s what happened,” said Sonnen.
“He might really be done…I don’t know if he wants to be done. This was a negotiation tool. But he called the bluff of the wrong guys. These are gamblers man, there’s rules in Vegas. If you say bet you have a bet. I mean that. You go to a casino, you don’t put your money down, you tell the pit boss ‘I want that bet’ if he yells the word bet you have a bet. And it goes both ways. If you win it he’ll pay you…Anytime you go into a negotiation and you call someone’s bluff, man you better mean it because this is what can happen.”
According to Dana White, however, McGregor’s bluff could have been a lot simpler than that. “He was in Iceland training and didn’t want to ruin his preparation for the fight,” said White while appearing on Sportscenter, suggesting that McGregor may have simply pulled the biggest power move of them all when forced to deal with the obligations the UFC so often forces upon its fighters. Though if we’ve learned one thing from Dana White over the years, it’s that he cannot be trusted.
3. It’s all a set-up
The one thing facet of this story that seems to be agreed upon by both MMA media members and fans is that McGregor, obviously, is not actually retiring. Helwani has since tweeted that “Wouldn’t hang my hat anything. One thing multiple sources seem to agree on: he’ll fight again. When? Where? How? TBD. But they believe that,” and with rumors of George St. Pierre’s return to MMA gaining more steam than ever, the idea has begun to spread that McGregor’s retirement has been a bluff by both the man himself *and* the UFC in order to set-up a match between the two somewhere down the line.
“I would rather be known as the best ever than holding the belt. If you’re the best and even if you don’t have the belt and you’re the best, it’s more gratifying. The belt is a material thing. It’s good. I won it a few times. But I want to fight the best, the biggest name.”
Would the UFC actually pull such a positively WWE-esque move just to put an even bigger fight into place down the line? Not a chance in Hell, if you ask us, especially with what is already primed to be the biggest card in promotional history ever-approaching.
Absolute insanity. We’ll keep you updated as this story develops.
According to MMAfighting.com‘s Ariel Helwani, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor’s recent retirement via social media may only be temporary. Helwani tweeted early Wednesday morning that the Irish star may not have seen his last appearance in the Octagon just yet. Lots of theories/motives/timelines being thrown out re: McGregor. I suspect the absolute truth will only
According to Dana White, in a recent interview with ESPN, Conor refused to attend a media event in Las Vegas this week as he is in Iceland training for his previously scheduled fight with rival Nate Diaz. Now White says the UFC 200 main event has been scrapped and UFC brass is searching for other options for the card’s main event.
McGregor rocked the MMA world Tuesday afternoon, when he sent out a tweet announcing his sudden departure from the sport:
I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya’s later.
