The MMA world already has said goodbye to a number of retiring fighters in 2024, with more surely to come for the rest of the year.
MMA is a constantly evolving sport with a revolving door of athletes entering and exiting. Currently, fighters from the era who helped make the sport so popular are beginning to trickle away from competition and hang up their gloves in order to move on to the next chapter in life.
If there’s one thing that’s well known about combat sports retirements, though, it’s that they often don’t last long. The urge to compete, and perhaps more importantly get a payday, will continue to drive fighters back even well beyond their expiration dates.
2024 has already seen a number of notable fighters announcing they are done with the sport, and we have a list of those who have opted to walk away this year (the list will update as new retirements are announced).
Nathaniel Wood is out, and Mike Grundy is in to face former UFC champ Aljamain Sterling at Polaris 25.
Former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] has been dealt a curve ball.
Originally slated to meet fellow UFC fighter Nathaniel Wood, Sterling is now set to meet former UFC fighter [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] in a grappling match on Sept. 30 at Polaris 25 in Wales.
Sterling, 34, currently fights at 135 pounds. Grundy, 36, fights at featherweight.
Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) won the bantamweight title in March 2021 by disqualification against Petr Yan. After an injury layoff, he beat Yan again 13 months later. After title defenses against ex-champs T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo, Sterling ran into a problem.
At UFC 292 last month, he was knocked out by Sean O’Malley in the second round. He lost the belt, and had his nine-fight winning streak snapped. It’s unclear what his next move will be in MMA, but he’ll still compete in this grappling match despite the change in opponent on just 12 days’ notice.
Grundy (12-4 MMA) went 1-3 in four UFC appearances and was released from the promotion following a three-fight skid. He most recently lost in 57 seconds to Makwan Amirkhani by technical decision via anaconda choke in March 2022 at UFC Fight Night 204.
Check out a full recap of 2022’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.
Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll, here are some of 2022’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances in the octagon.
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 204, which saw a record-setting nine bonuses issued on a historic card.
The UFC put on one of the most memorable events in its storied history on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 204, which went down at The 02 in London and featured a remarkable nine finishes out of 12 bouts.
The show closed with a swift and decisive performance from [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who submitted fellow heavyweight contender [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] (34-10 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in the first round of their fight to stay unbeaten inside the octagon.
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for 53 post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 204.
Makwan Amirkhani needed less than a minute to put Mike Grundy to sleep in a critical career bout for both men at UFC Fight Night 204.
LONDON – [autotag]Makwan Amirkhani[/autotag] needed less than a minute to put [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] to sleep in an absolutely critical career bout for both men at UFC Fight Night 204.
In a matchup in which both fighters entered on losing skids and highly motivated to get the job done, Amirkhani (13-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) locked in his patented anaconda choke on Grundy (16-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) just 57 seconds into the featherweight fight at The 02.
Grundy was determined to get the win after revealing pre-fight his father was terminally ill. They showed his father cageside on the broadcast just before the bout began, but things didn’t play out the way that side hoped when Amirkhani locked in his technique early and squeezed until Grundy went out cold.
Fighting in front of his terminally ill father, “it’s definitely gonna bring a different animal in me,” Mike Grundy said.
LONDON – [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] will have a lot more on his mind Saturday than just snapping a losing streak.
Grundy (12-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) meets Makwan Amirkhani (16-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 204 where his job could be on the line after falling short in his past two octagon appearances. But for the 35-year-old Team Kaobon fighter, the motivation to get his hand raised stems mainly from having his father, who Grundy said has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, cageside to watch him fight.
“This fight is so much more than me keeping my job off the two losses,” Grundy told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC London media day. “This fight is to put on a performance for my dad. Sadly, my dad has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and he’s gonna be there cageside watching me on the night, and that is what it means to me.
“There is absolutely no chance that this guy is gonna put me away on Saturday night. You can put me in with the heavyweights on the main event, and they won’t put me away either because I’m there to put on a performance in front of my dad, and that is what it means to me, and that’s the main thing. I’m gonna dedicate this fight and this win to my dad.”
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Grundy’s two losses have come to tough competition in dynamic striker Lando Vannata and top prospect Movsar Evloev. The standout wrestler hasn’t been able to live up to his potential yet, but he’s confident that with his father in attendance, it’ll bring out the best of him.
“Having that thing in the back of your mind, and you know my dad is gonna be sat there, he’s gonna be cageside,” Grundy said. “To have him there, and we don’t know how many more he’s gonna be able to be there for, is special to me. It definitely lights a fire in my belly and it’s definitely gonna bring a different animal in me. It definitely is, and hopefully that’s gonna be a Performance of the Night.”
UFC Fight Night 204 takes place Saturday at O2 Arena in London. The card streams on ESPN+.
Watch Grundy’s complete pre-fight media availability above.
Featherweights Makwan Amirkhani and Mike Grundy will look to rebound when they square off in March.
Featherweights [autotag]Makwan Amirkhani[/autotag] and [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] will look to rebound when they square off in March.
Grundy (12-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) takes on Amirkhani (16-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on March 19, which is targeted to take place in London.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Grundy and Amirkhani were originally scheduled to square off in March 2020 in London, but the entire card was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Team Kaobon’s Grundy has dropped back-to-back decision losses to Movsar Evloev and Lando Vannata. His lone octagon win came in his debut when he stopped Nad Narimani in the second round.
Amirkhani also will aim to snap a losing skid. After winning three of four fights, including submission finishes over Chris Fishgold and Danny Henry, the 33-year-old has lost three straight to Edson Barboza, Kamuela Kirk and most recently Lerone Murphy at UFC 267 in October.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for March 19 includes:
The best facts and figures to come out of UFC 262, which saw Charles Oliveira make history with his title-winning TKO of Michael Chandler.
The UFC’s seventh pay-per-view of the year delivered in a big way on Saturday with UFC 262 at Toyota Center in Houston.
Charles Oliveira (31-8 MMA, 19-8 UFC) became the new lightweight champion in the main event when he scored a thrilling second-round TKO win over Michael Chandler (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC), setting all types of UFC records in the process.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 55 post-event facts to come out of UFC 262.
Nik Lentz is in Abu Dhabi and was all set for a fight Saturday. Now he’s pushed back a week with a new opponent.
[autotag]Nik Lentz[/autotag] is in Abu Dhabi and was all set for a fight this week.
Now his plans have changed, and he won’t have to wait too long. Lentz (30-11-2 MMA, 14-8-1 MMA) was supposed to take on [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on Saturday at UFC on ABC 1. But Sunday, Grundy posted online that a member of his team tested positive for COVID-19, which will keep him from competing on the card.
Instead, Lentz will miss Saturday’s event and fight a week later at UFC 257 against new opponent [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). MMA Junkie confirmed the new matchup with a person with knowledge of the booking following an initial report from MMADNA.com.
UFC 257 takes place Jan. 23 at Etihad Arena at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Lentz will be looking to snap a two-fight skid. In May 2019, he lost a second-round TKO in a rematch againnt Charles Oliveira. In January 2020, he dropped a decision to Arnold Allen. In that fight, Lentz took an eye poke and ultimately had to have a complicated surgery that could have left him worse off than when he started. But now he’s ready to return.
Evloev fought just once in 2020 and stayed unbeaten with a unanimous decision against Grundy in July. He was supposed to meet Nate Landwehr this past December, but tested positive for COVID-19 and went on the shelf. Now he’ll try to stay perfect against Lentz with a short-notice assignment.
Grundy was set to try to get back in the win column after his loss to Evloev until the positive test took him out of the fight. In a Twitter post, Grundy said the “devastating news” has him down for now, but plans to “run through the featherweight division” when he returns.
With the addition, the UFC 257 lineup now includes:
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 14, which saw Robert Whittaker score a main-event win over Darren Till in Abu Dhabi.
The final stop of the UFC’s inaugural “Fight Island” stretch took place Saturday with UFC on ESPN 14, which went down at Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with a record 15-fight card that aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
Former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) rebounded from losing the title to Israel Adesanya last October when he outworked [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] (18-3-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) to a unanimous decision in the main event.
For more on the numbers behind the historic fight card, check below for 50 post-event facts to come out of UFC on ESPN 14.
The six fight-night bonuses issued at UFC on ESPN 14 set a single-event record for the company.
UFC on ESPN 14 drew an announced attendance of zero for a live gate of $0.
Betting favorites went 11-4 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 14-6 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 15-bout card was 2:40:24.
Main card
Robert Whittaker
Whittaker improved to 9-1 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in November 2014.
Whittaker has earned seven of his 12 UFC victories by decision.
Till fell to 1-1 since he moved up to the middleweight division in November.
Till suffered the first decision loss of his career.
[autotag]Mauricio Rua[/autotag]’s (27-11-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC) 23 victories in UFC/PRIDE light-heavyweight competition are the most in combined divisional history.
[autotag]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/autotag] (23-10 MMA, 6-7 UFC) fell to 2-5 in his past seven fights dating back to July 2014.
Nogueira has suffered six of his 10 career losses by decision.
Werdum (24-9-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) improved to 10-4 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in February 2012.
Werdum has earned 18 of his 24 career victories by stoppage. That includes eight of his 12 UFC wins.
[autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag]’s (18-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since May 2017.
Gustafsson was unsuccessful in his heavyweight debut.
Gustafsson fell to 3-6 in his past nine UFC appearances dating back to his first title fight against Jon Jones in September 2013.
Carla Esparza
[autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) improved to 7-3 since losing the UFC strawweight title to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2015.
Esparza’s eight victories in UFC strawweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Jedrzejczyk (10).
Esparza’s four-fight UFC winning streak at strawweight is the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Tatiana Suarez (five), Yan Xiaonan (five) and Zhang Weili (five).
Esparza has earned seven of her eight UFC victories by decision.
Esparza’s 39 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are most in divisional history.
[autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] (13-1-2 MMA, 2-1-2 UFC) had her 15-fight unbeaten streak snapped for the first defeat of her career.
Craig (13-4-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage.
Craig became the first fighter in UFC history to win three separate fights by triangle choke submission.
Craig’s five submission victories in UFC light heavyweight competition are tied with Jones, Misha Cirkunov, Ovince Saint Preux, and Glover Teixeira for most in divisional history.
[autotag]Gadzhimurad Antigulov[/autotag] (21-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered all eight of his career losses by stoppage.
Antigulov suffered his first submission loss since Apr. 27, 2013 – a span of 2,646 days (more than seven years) and 18 fights.
[autotag]Alex Oliveira[/autotag] (21-8-1 MMA, 11-6 UFC) improved to 9-5 (with one no contest) in UFC welterweight competition.
[autotag]Peter Sobotta[/autotag] (17-7-1 MMA, 4-6 UFC) fell to 4-3 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in May 2014.
Sobotta has suffered four of his six UFC losses by decision.
Khamzat Chimaev
Chimaev (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) set a record for fastest time between UFC wins with two victories in 10 days.
Chimaev earned a fight-night bonus for both of his wins.
Chimaev has earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished five of those wins in Round 1.
[autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag] (10-3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Preliminary card
Francisco Trinaldo
[autotag]Francisco Trinaldo[/autotag]’s (26-7 MMA, 16-6 UFC) 15 victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Jim Miller (19), Donald Cerrone (17) and Gleison Tibau (16).
[autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by knockout.
Ronson (22-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC) was successful in his return to the UFC after going winless in his first stint from 2013-2014.
[autotag]Nicolas Dalby[/autotag] (18-4-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) fell to 1-1 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September.
Dalby suffered the first submission loss of his career.
Aspinall (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Jake Collier[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was unsuccessful in his UFC heavyweight debut.
Collier has alternated wins and losses over his past eight fights.
Collier has suffered four of his five career losses by stoppage.
[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) had his nine-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Grundy suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Tanner Boser
Boser (19-6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) earned his second UFC victory in a 28-day stretch. He also won at UFC on ESPN 12 on June 27.
Raphael Pessoa (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by stoppage.
Pessoa suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
[autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned nine of her 12 career victories by decision. That includes both of her UFC wins.
[autotag]Ramazan Emeev[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) improved to 3-1 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in May 2018.
Emeev improved to 16-2 in his past 18 fights.
Emeev has earned all four of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Niklas Stolze[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by decision.
[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) earned his first decision victory since Nov. 14, 2015 – a span of 1,715 days (nearly five years) and 11 fights.
[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
