UFC News: Gerald Harris reveals what made him hang up his fighting gloves for good

Gerald Harris announced his retirement from MMA this past weekend. But it was a decision that he arrived at in the middle of the last fight he fought.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Harris opened up about what pushed him to make the call for retirement.

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Harris doesn't want to get hit anymore

Gerald Harris had completely different plans when he stepped into the cage for his bout against fellow ex-UFC fighter Seth Baczynski at C3 Fights 48. Retirement was not only far from his mind, but he was in fact hoping to use the fight as an opportunity to get noticed by major promotions and restart his career.

All his plans took a complete 180° turn right around the start of the third round.

A massive punch from Baczynski made him realize that at the age of 40, the heavy beating that MMA involves is not something he wants to go through anymore.

"In the third round, he threw a clean right hand and it caught me square in the face. It was the longest four minutes and 44 seconds of my life."

Harris claimed that in his entire career of 30-something fights, he has only been clean hit five times. So for someone who takes pride in their self-defense and wrestling, it was a clear sign to step away.

"I’m getting older, I’m getting slower and I realized in that moment that I did not want to be in there anymore. I got my win. I couldn’t end my career on a loss or a win over someone who wasn’t qualified to be in there against me. I felt good beating Baczynski. He’s a quality opponent. I made that decision in the third round."

This is not the first time Harris has announced retirement from the action, but Harris it was more of a three-year break that he needed since he was going through a bad divorce and fighting for his kids' custody. But this time, he is serious and more resolute than ever before.

"My fighting career’s over. Can I fight? Yes. Do I want to fight? No. I don’t want to fight anymore."