Retirement in professional sports is an interesting thing, especially in combat sports, as fighters seem the least likely to walk away when the time is “right.” In the past week, mixed martial arts fans watched two young talents walk away from the sport. The response to their announcements is quite interesting and speaks volumes about some of the issues that exist within the world of mixed martial arts as a whole.
Frankie Perez started the ball rolling when he used his platform at the UFC Fight Night 74 post-fight press conference to announce that he is walking away from the sport. In an odd sense of irony, the 26-year old retired after knocking out Sam Stout, a fighter who, having been knocked out three times in a row, could have been the one announcing that he was walking away. But Perez’s announcement caused an interesting response among the masses.
Initially, many spoke highly of him walking away from the sport on his own. Social media flooded with praise from media professionals. The most telling responses came from fellow fighters who expressed a clear understanding of his decision and praised him for leaving on his own terms. That was until Michael Bisping opened his mouth and messed things up.
“I am glad,” said Bisping during Fox Sports 1’s UFC Fight Night 74 coverage. “And no offense to Frankie Perez, because I don’t know the guy, and I’m sure he’s a very charming individual and a good person, but if he retired after knocking someone out in his second UFC win, I would say he hasn’t got the cajones to really be in this sport.”
He has since gone back on his comments, saying he was misunderstood, but that seems like damage control more than anything else. Bisping himself should be considering retirement due to his eye injuries. Bisping also stated that he believes Stout has fights left at this point in his career, even after being violently stopped three times in a row.
Notwithstanding Bisping’s commentary, praise for Perez’s decision came from fans, fighters and media members alike. A few days later, Perez was joined in the ranks of the retired by Jordan Mein, another fighter under the age of 30, who walked away from the sport on Wednesday.
“I love martial arts, it’s just the competition side of it, staying at that high intensity and high level, and I’m going to a different aspect of life,” Mein said in a piece by Thomas Gerbasi on UFC.com. “I just don’t want to compete anymore at the highest level. I still love to compete in the gym, and I’m more into wanting to teach and maybe even going a different route and getting away from martial arts and doing something else. I don’t know yet.”
Seeing both of these young men walk away from a professional sport while in their 20s surprised many people. But those that know about the toils of MMA are not too surprised. This isn’t a sport like the NBA, MLB, or NFL, in which a 21 or 22 year old can become a multi-millionaire overnight. Most athletes who compete in MMA are toiling away at their sport with very little return.
According to MMA Manifesto, which keeps a database of UFC career fighter earnings, Mein has earned $242,000. Perez has earned $80,500. These totals include purse winnings, Reebok sponsorship money (starting with UFC 189), and performance bonuses. These totals do not include sponsorship money earned before the UFC deal with Reebok. Even still, given that Perez has been in the UFC for a year and Mein has been there for two, those totals are drastically low when compared to the lowest rung athletes of other sports.
Factoring in taxes and paying for training, medical care, and other expenses, those earning totals are even lower than one would expect. Perez spoke perfectly to the struggle of being a professional fighter:
“Man, let me tell you something. Half these people don’t even know what goes on in the real world of mixed martial arts. They just see all the lights and the knockouts and the good stuff, but they don’t know what goes on in these people’s lives.”
MMA fans doesn’t have much insight into what will happen to fighters such as Stout when they finally walk away from the sport. But the fears of how these athletes will cope with being so battered with very few options are clear and present. With that in mind, both Perez and Mein should be praised for walking away on their own terms, in their own time, and under their own power.
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UFC Fight Night 74: Holloway vs. Oliveira took place on August 23, 2015 at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
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