UFC slugger Matt Brown isn’t a fan of fighters announcing their retirement fights, especially after Anthony Smith’s recent sendoff.
Smith had his retirement bout at UFC Kansas City, where he faced Zhang Mingyang. Unfortunately, the fight didn’t go his way, ending in a first-round TKO loss. Afterward, Smith confirmed it was time to move on and start a new chapter. While fans and some fighters celebrated the retirement moment, Brown believes fighters shouldn’t announce their final fights, they should just walk away when they know it’s time.
“Dana [White] has said it before, and I actually agree with him: if you’re already thinking about it, you should just stop now,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Something along those lines.
“That’s why I’m not such a fan of guys planning their retirement fight. I get it—some guys, like Robbie Lawler, handle it well and still go out there and get it done. But I think when you’ve already got a foot out the door, you’re probably going to be fighting a guy with two feet in the door. So it’s going to be a problem.”
Brown believes one big reason fighters like Smith,and many others, end up losing their final fights is because announcing retirement ahead of time makes things more dangerous, especially for the one stepping away.
“The UFC hasn’t had anyone die from a fight that I know of, but it happens,” Brown said. “Our life is truly on the line in there, and I don’t think it’s a good thing to go in with a foot [out] the door, which was a part of my retirement.
“I was like, if I’ve got a foot out, I’m not going to go in there with a guy with both feet in. You’re risking a lot, especially when you’ve got kids and stuff.
The 50-fight vet had his retirement mapped out, working with the UFC to get the timing and location just right. It all lined up perfectly as he spent a big chunk of his career training in Kansas City, and with his home in Omaha just a few hours away, it made total sense. Unfortunately, things didn’t end the way he’d hoped. His final fight saw him busted open by a nasty elbow, blood streaming down his face before Zhang finished it off with a flurry of ground-and-pound.
It’s not the ending Smith would’ve wanted, but as UFC legend Matt Brown pointed out, that kind of heartbreaking finish is often how it goes when fighters publicly announce their retirement plans ahead of time.
“Dana [White] has said it before, and I actually agree with him, if you’re already thinking about it, you should just stop now,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer.“Something along those lines.
“That’s why I’m not such a fan of guys planning their retirement fight. I get it. Some guys like Robbie Lawler, they handle it well and still go out there and get it done, but I think when you’ve already got a foot out the door, you’re probably going to be fighting a guy with two feet in the door. So it’s going to be a problem.”
Brown knows from 15 years’ experience in the UFC that every fight comes with the inherent risk that the worst could happen at any given moment.
The danger gets ratcheted up even more when one fighter is preparing to ride off into the sunset while his or her opponent is still in the midst of a career that’s going strong.
“The UFC hasn’t had anyone die from a fight that I know of, but it happens,” Brown said. “Our life is truly on the line in there, and I don’t think it’s a good thing to go in with a foot [out] the door, which was a part of my retirement.
“I was like, if I’ve got a foot out, I’m not going to go in there with a guy with both feet in. You’re risking a lot, especially when you’ve got kids and stuff.”
When Matt Brown had what ended up being his final UFC fight, he didn’t even realize it at the time. He knocked out Court McGee in brutal fashion, but it wasn’t until a year later, when the UFC called with another offer, that it really hit him. The fire just wasn’t there anymore. That’s when he knew it was time to hang it up.
Brown gets why guys like Smith want that one last moment, that sendoff. However, from his experience, he’s seen way more retirements end in heartbreak than in the kind of storybook finish fighters hope for.
“It’s just a different mentality,” Brown explained. “You can absolutely go in [thinking] I’m going to leave it all in there, it’s my last time and everything. But the guy you’re fighting isn’t thinking that way. He’s in there thirsty for blood, and he’s in there to try to get to a championship, and he’s in there to make money and all this shit. You know the old saying, it comes from boxing, you walk up the stairs in wooden shoes and you walk down the stairs in silk slippers. That’s kind of what you’re seeing in these situations.
“We’ve got other things going on, making money in other ways, our brand is out there, the name’s out there, and it’s like this isn’t full focus anymore. Again, some guys can handle that properly, like Jon Jones. I don’t think he has to have both feet in the door to be out there legendarily beating other legends. He just doesn’t have to. Most of us, we have to. I’ve never really been too big of a fan of that.”
Rather than setting the stage for a retirement fight, Brown says that athletes should just call it quits as it is a better course of action.
Brown knows that Smith isn’t alone when it comes to these kinds of moments in the UFC, but he just wishes fighters would take into consideration all the factors and possible outcomes before setting the stage for a potential disaster.
“When you do start voicing it, or you are even having that thought in your mind, you’re going in against a guy that is in a completely different mindset for the most part,” Brown said. “I mean, I’m sure there are some guys who fight just to fight or whatever, but most likely you’re going in there against a guy thirsty for blood and wants to make money and wants all those big things. If that’s not where your mindset is, you’re going to be a step behind. It’s just a fact. I don’t think you can say it any different.
“You’re going to be a step behind when that guy is thirsty for everything, and you’re kind of like, ‘This is my last time, I’m going to leave it all in here.’ But are you really? What are you leaving it all in there for? For your f*cking legacy? This guy is leaving it all in there because he wants to move up. You’re leaving it all in there so that you feel cool, and feel like you did a great thing or whatever, your motivation is totally different. It’s just not a good mindset, in my opinion.”
