Joseph Benavidez opens up on retiring from MMA: ‘I’ve known I’ve been retired’
Joseph Benavidez has opened up on his retirement from MMA.
On Wednesday, it was revealed Joseph Benavidez was removed from the UFC rankings and it was then later confirmed that he was retired. Although he never mentioned it publicly, Benavidez has come out and had an emotional time explaining why he retired.
Joseph Benavidez was removed from the UFC rankings pool today after informing the UFC that he was retiring from MMA, so why hasn't he announced it publicly?:
"It's going to be really hard to put into words just how much 15 years of this and everyone's support has meant" pic.twitter.com/IcIYMYKRU4
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 16, 2021
“It just kind of came very sudden. I’ve actually known I was going to retire for a while, but you have to make it official, I guess, to retire and do all that stuff – like tell the people that it concerns, like (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard, that you’re going to retire, and USADA and all that,” Benavidez said. “So I actually just had to kind of do that yesterday because I was bored. I was like, ‘I should probably make this official.’ I’ve kind of been retired, in a way. So I talked to Mick, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re probably going to be out of the rankings here soon, so people will probably know what’s happening.’ I said cool. He said it’ll probably be until Monday. Nut then I got out of a workout, and I had a few people messaging me, and I was like, ‘Well, here we go. That’s how it is.’
“In all honesty, I hadn’t really had time to post and to really take it all in. I’ve known I’ve been retired, so I didn’t also think it would be an emotional thing. But just reading a bunch of stuff, I was crying in the backyard – so it’s been a good day,” Benavidez continued. “I haven’t been able to put anything out myself yet, I feel like it will never be good enough like if I have a hard time posting which picture I think is the best, it’s going to be really hard to put into just how much 15 years of this and everyone’s support has meant. Maybe I’ll just keep it simple and put a random picture, nothing can really sum up this in pictures or words I guess, of how I feel of what I do and was able to accomplish and the people I’ve been able to meet and how grateful I am for all of it in the last 15 years.”
Joseph Benavidez ends his MMA career with a record of 28-8 and ends on a three-fight losing skid. In his last fight at UFC 259, he lost a decision to Askar Askarov after losing back-to-back fights to Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight belt. Benavidez is one of the best flyweights of all time despite never winning a UFC title. In his career, he holds notable wins over Jussier Formiga, Tim Elliott, Henry Cejudo, Eddie Wineland, and Rani Yahya among others.
