Biggest premature retirements in mma

[NicholasJBasile]

• Cole Konrad
• Borz Amagov
• TJ Grant
• Zabit
• Lee Murray
• Phillip Miller
• Holdsworth
• Terrell
• Duquesnoy
• Sosnovskiy
• Bowles
• James Wilks
• Paul Sass
• Keoni Koch

Very solid list -- Sass was very fun to watch, very dangerous guard.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Chris Holdsworth

Good pick -- the rumor is that he retired after TJ Dillashaw gave him a concussion in sparring. This comes from TAM though, so not sure of the credibility.

 

[Fight Professor]

Cejudo
Khabib

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Dave Terrell was a huge one. He was hyped so much back in the day, came in starched Lindland and looked like an absolute killer then just kinda faded into obscurity almost as quickly as he came in. It was weird, the whole scrap pack talked about him like he was the second coming and then it just didn't pan out that way.

He was my coach for years. He was even better than he was hyped. I've trained at a lot of gyms and with many killers -- he is the baddest dude I've trained with.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

I came into say Phillip Miller.

Genki Sudo also retired insanely early for an MMA guy.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

He was my coach for years. He was even better than he was hyped. I've trained at a lot of gyms and with many killers -- he is the baddest dude I've trained with.

I was actually a huge fan of his way back, was bummed when he stopped fighting.

Years later in the first MMA match I ever coached... It was against him and one of his students. Talk about nerve-wracking

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I was actually a huge fan of his way back, was bummed when he stopped fighting.

Years later in the first MMA match I ever coached... It was against him and one of his students. Talk about nerve-wracking

Very cool -- he is a very shy dude, but his room is full of talent. There was a bit too much drama at the gym, but I've still never trained at a place like his. Pretty neat you got to coach against him.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I was actually a huge fan of his way back, was bummed when he stopped fighting.

Years later in the first MMA match I ever coached... It was against him and one of his students. Talk about nerve-wracking

Where do you coach?

 

[SalvadorAllende]

In the modern recently era, I think CCC was earlier than Khabib. It was sad khabib retired when he did, but we gotta remember Khabib had been a pro MMA fighter since 2008 (13 years) and in the UFC since Jan 2012. So 9 full years in the UFC. He was just marred with some inactivity and missed fights. That's a pretty good run.

CCC on the other hand was only doing MMA for like 8 years and had really only hit his stride the few years of this imo. He had more to give and show imo. Would've liked to see him get a few more bantamweight defences.

Agree.

I think Cejudo misplayed his hand. Now he is trying to come back and he might very well lost a step.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

Where do you coach?

It's been a while since I have. I was teaching in Santa Maria, CA, sometimes in San Luis Obispo. I've since moved to Burbank, trying to teach again.

I think when I coached against him it was like 2012 or so.

His gym is in Santa Rosa or something northern California isn't it?

 

[BEATDOWNS]

• Cole Konrad
• Borz Amagov
• TJ Grant
• Zabit
• Lee Murray
• Phillip Miller
• Holdsworth
• Terrell
• Duquesnoy
• Sosnovskiy
• Bowles
• James Wilks
• Paul Sass
• Keoni Koch

Holdsworth and Grant didn't really have a choice.

My choice is Brian Stann.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

It's been a while since I have. I was teaching in Santa Maria, CA, sometimes in San Luis Obispo. I've since moved to Burbank, trying to teach again.

I think when I coached against him it was like 2012 or so.

His gym is in Santa Rosa or something northern California isn't it?

Yeah that's the gym -- I went to school and wrestled for Cal Poly. There were some monster gyms there -- SLO Kickboxing, The Pit, Paragon; very strong regional MMA. I would imagine you may have crossed paths with Preston Scharf, Gan McGee, Scott Lighty, Hackleman, Glover Texeira, Cruz Gomez, or someone from their crew. Very cool that you were coaching there. I didn't start training with NCFA till 2013, but I'd probably know of the guy you coached against.

 

[jefferz]

Nice list

Didn't know Holdsworth retired. Bowles is the forgotten WEC BW Champ I remember his upset of Miguel Torres who for some reason himself has been forgotten but when I first started watching mma Miguel Torres was the #1 fighter below 155

iirc Bowles retired because he kept breaking his hands. well, that and the failed drug test.

 

[Mob69]

Great thread. Depends how you look at it. There are quite a few great prospects who packed it in. In terms of proven elite fighters, I still say Khabib. There were lots of fights left for him.

 

[Lemmy Caution]

Nah the fundamentals in boxing don’t translate well into mma

Imagine Conor without the boxing. I'm sure he would have won a title.

 

[Streeter]

Easy Kabib . He retired after just 3 title defenses , fought only 29 total fights, and was clearly still in prime.

I think if he fought a few more years he would go down as all time goat. Tough to put him there without the fights though. I do think only Fedor had the aura about them that you were truly watching the greatest. He had his reasons which I respect but definitely think ot was 5 years too soon.

 

[Kb7]

Can't believe nobody has posted:

With the UFC rule set, i have no doubt he would have been successful and even captured the title.

 

[Kb7]

Adlan Amagov I believe retired too soon. He had a lot potential and maybe if would had kept him from stabbing someone.

 

[HHJ]

If I was a nurmagomedov supporter/ fan- itd make me crazy.

Nope. All good here !
Goat is meaningless !

 

[Matthew Fedler]

It would have been interesting to see Rousey switch camps and maybe even drop to 125 when it became an option.