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The art of the perfect UFC retirement is something that few have mastered and this was recently touched upon by a former two-division champion in the promotion.
In an excerpt from an interview that he did on Wolfpak which was eventually posted to X account @RedCorner_MMA, Daniel Cormier spoke with his former head coach at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Javier Mendez who was one of the show's co-hosts.
In the context of picture-perfect UFC retirements, 'DC' shouted out his former AKA teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov as having an idealistic send-off. But, he touched on his own journey and when he should have hung up the gloves. Getting into the specifics of that, Cormier said:
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"Your mind will actually tell you. You know when it's time. Not everybody gets what Khabib got. He and GSP got to leave on top. Not everybody gets that. Listen to what's available - these signs, everything that's pinging at your mind. When you don't love to train anymore, you're probably done."
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Cormier added:
"When you don't love the competition or look forward to it anymore, you're probably done. Honestly, I didn't need to fight those last two fights against Stipe. And for all the young fighters - start to look down the line a little bit. There's nothing wrong with looking at what's next when the career is over."
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below:
Perfect retirements that have happened in the UFC
As Cormier mentioned above, it is more commonplace than not for MMA retirements to wrap up inauspiciously. But Cormier did mention a pair of instances above that are worth examining.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is the gold standard example of this through the specific lens of retiring as an undefeated fighter. 'The Eagle' left the game with a 29-0 professional record and as the reigning UFC lightweight champion. Nurmagomedov's last contest saw him finish Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke at UFC 254 in October 2020.
Georges St-Pierre was the other example that Cormier mentioned in this context. The two-time welterweight champion exited the sport as a two-division champion when in his swan song bout, GSP finished Michael Bisping with a rear naked choke at UFC 217 to also cement himself as a middleweight titleholder.
Check out highlights of Georges St-Pierre vs. Michael Bisping below:
