5 UFC legends who retired after a loss

While some MMA fighters have the good fortune to hang up their gloves with a victory, plenty more go the other way – and end up heading into retirement off the back of a bad loss. The sport is like the proverbial snake that eats its own tail, after all – with the reputations of today’s great fighters being built off the back of wins over yesterday’s greats.

Quite often we’ll see fighters hanging on for too long – looking for one last grasp at that final great victory, only to add a series of losses to their ledger instead – but usually, one really devastating defeat is enough for them to make their mind up and decide that enough is enough.

Here are 5 UFC legends who hung up their gloves after a loss.

#1 Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans retired in 2018 following 5 straight defeats

Once considered one of the best 205lbers on the planet, former UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Rashad Evans decided to hang up his gloves in 2018 after one loss too many. It’s probably arguable in fact that ‘Suga’ stuck around for too long, as his career actually ended following 5 straight losses, but that’d perhaps be unfair given 2 of his final 3 bouts ended in split decisions.

Evans’ final loss, though – a crushing defeat at the hands of future title challenger Anthony Smith, who turned the legend’s lights out at just 53 seconds of the first round – was about as decisive as it could possibly have been. Never blessed with the greatest chin, it was pretty clear after that fight that Evans just couldn’t absorb punishment anymore.

And so less than a month after the defeat, Evans made the call and hung up his gloves for good. Thankfully there hasn’t been any talk of him making a return to action since – which probably makes sense given he likely wouldn’t be hurting for money due to his current status as one of the UFC’s analysts on their ESPN broadcasts.

#2 Michael Bisping

A knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum triggered Michael Bisping's retirement

It’s hard to believe, but a lot of fans were actually calling for Michael Bisping’s retirement following his loss to Luke Rockhold in 2014. At that point the British trash talker was 35 years old, was coming off a serious eye injury, and simply didn’t seem to have a lot left in the tank. Thankfully he stuck around, though – and pulled off an all-time great upset less than two years later, defeating Rockhold for the UFC Middleweight title.

Bisping made one defense of that title though – a win over old rival Dan Henderson – and then ended up on the shelf with various injuries. He ended up losing his title to Georges St-Pierre in November 2017, and was then knocked out by Kelvin Gastelum in a short-notice bout just 3 weeks later.

That loss was enough to trigger Bisping to retire – he stated he began to have problems with his good eye following the knockout, and simply felt that at that stage of his career, it wasn’t worth it anymore. Realistically, he had nothing left to prove anyway after his shock title reign – meaning he retired at exactly the right time.

#3 Randy Couture

Randy Couture retired twice in the UFC after big losses

One of the UFC’s all-time legends – even if he’s now persona non grata with the promotion – Randy Couture was the first fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, first unseating Maurice Smith for the Heavyweight crown at Ultimate Japan in 1997, and then upsetting Tito Ortiz to win the Light-Heavyweight title in 2003. But Couture wasn’t always successful and so he remains one of the few UFC legends to retire in the promotion twice – both off the back of losses.

The first time Couture hung his gloves up came in 2006, after ‘The Natural’ was knocked out by Chuck Liddell for the second time in a failed attempt to regain his Light-Heavyweight title. At the age of 42, it felt like Couture had nothing more to prove, and so retiring made perfect sense. He was even quickly inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame a few months later.

But just over a year after initially retiring, Couture was back – facing Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight title. And in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, ‘Captain America’ pulled off the win at the age of 43 to win the gold.

He eventually lost the title to Brock Lesnar in November 2008 – after a protracted absence from the Octagon due to an infamous contract dispute – and from there he went on to have a few more fights before retiring for good after being knocked out by Lyoto Machida – at the age of 47 nonetheless. Couture has since moved to rival promotion Bellator MMA – but as of writing, he hasn’t returned to action again.

#4 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira lost to Stefan Struve in his final UFC bout

One of the greatest Heavyweights in MMA history, it’s safe to say that we never really saw the best of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the UFC. Sure, ‘Minotauro’ provided a handful of classic moments – his incredible fight with Randy Couture, his comeback win over Tim Sylvia – but for the most part, he was a shadow of the amazing fighter he’d been for years in PRIDE.

Nogueira still had a pretty impressive 11 fights in the Octagon, though – and ended up hanging his gloves up in 2015 after one final loss to Stefan Struve. It was the nadir of Nogueira’s career – the final defeat in a run of three losses that represented the worst run on his ledger – although unlike his previous two losses, he managed to last the distance with the giant Dutchman.

It was certainly the right time for Nogueira to retire, too – it was heavily rumored that he’d lost the sight in one of his eyes due to the accumulation of damage he’d taken over his career, and he’d suffered some other serious injuries too, most notably to his hips and to his right arm, which was snapped by Frank Mir in 2011. After retiring, Nogueira was offered a job with the UFC in Public Relations, and was then inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame – a fitting end to such a legendary career.

#5 Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey's loss to Amanda Nunes was the last time we saw her in the UFC

Perhaps no other UFC legend had as quick a downfall as Ronda Rousey. The former UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion went from being the biggest and most bankable star in the promotion in mid-2015 to retired in December 2016 following her two losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. It felt like ‘Rowdy Ronda’ simply couldn’t deal with the fallout from those losses and chose to walk away instead.

Her loss to Nunes, in particular, was crushing; while her loss to Holm had been a devastating knockout, there was still the feeling amongst a lot of fans that she’d simply made the error of having too much confidence in her striking game, and if she went back to the judo-based style that had given her so much success – including 6 straight UFC title defenses – she could get back to the top.

Against Nunes though, she was never given the chance. Once again attempting to stand with her opponent, Nunes simply destroyed her with a flurry of punches in the first minute of the opening round. Such a terrible loss was always going to be hard to bounce back from, and so it didn’t really come as a surprise when her retirement was announced in 2017 – along with her move to WWE. Rousey has since been inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame – a fine endorsement of her legendary career prior to her two losses.