MMA veteran Matt Brown, who previously announced his retirement in 2017 only to return to the sport, has discussed the challenges of retirement, suggesting that the thrill of the fight and the potential earnings make it difficult for fighters to permanently leave the sport.
Matt Brown knows a thing or two about retirement. This Ohio native made a public declaration back in 2017, planning to retire from MMA after a fight with Diego Sanchez. The fight ended with a brutal first-round knockout, supposedly the last bout of his career.
But, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. Just over two years later, Brown was back in the ring. As a 42-year-old veteran, he’s experienced the struggle of retiring and staying retired firsthand.
So, when Paul Felder started talking about a comeback after retiring just over two years ago, Brown wasn’t exactly shocked. He’s been there, done that. “Never trust a fighter when he says he’s retired,” Brown quipped during an episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Motherf****** ain’t never really retired. That’s just a fact. We’re never actually retired. There’s always something that can get us back if you’re a real fighter.”
When Brown retired, he felt a void. He missed the thrill of fighting, a sentiment he believes is shared by many athletes at the end of their careers. Despite his success outside the cage, nothing could replace the adrenaline rush he experienced during a fight. He believes that until something can replicate that feeling, fighters will always itch to get back in the ring.
Six months into retirement, Brown was itching to fight again. “That itch, when you step in there into that octagon and you fight another man, there’s just no way to replace that and there’s just a huge hole left in you. I don’t know how you can possibly replace that,” he said.
Retirement can be a confusing time. Finding a new purpose, a new direction, can be challenging. Brown cited Mark Coleman as an example. Coleman never officially retired, but when he stopped fighting, he struggled to find a new path. “This is who I am. This is my identity. I think it’s a complicated thing,” Brown reflected.
Felder, on the other hand, found some purpose in acting after he stopped fighting. He even made appearances on the Emmy-winning HBO series, Hacks. He also became a vital part of the UFC broadcast team, serving as a color commentator for numerous cards throughout the year.
But being around the sport only made it harder for Felder to walk away, according to Brown. “Paul Felder sits in that booth every week and watches these guys and he’s an excellent commentator but you know every time in the back of his mind he’s like ‘I could take that guy … oh I see the mistake he’s doing,’” Brown said.
When Brown retired, he opened a gym. He was still around the sport every day, which made him question why he wasn’t fighting. He believes Felder probably feels the same way. “He’s watching it every day. He’s still very involved in the sport but he’s just doing the one thing that got him into the sport that he wanted to do at 15 years old or whatever,” Brown said.
Money can also be a factor in deciding to return to the ring, Brown acknowledges. While some athletes struggle financially post-retirement, Brown says it’s not as much about going broke as just earning a sizable paycheck that can’t be equaled in almost any other job outside the cage.
“You’re not going to get your [return on investment] on something else the way you can once you start making some money in the sport,” Brown explained. “Like I make $125,000 and $125,000 so if I win, I get $250,000. If I lose I make $125,000.”
“There’s nothing else I can do where I can put my life on hold for two months and go make $125,000 minimum, potentially make $250,000 or $300,000 and you’re doing what you love so much.”
Even with the money, Brown took his retirement seriously. He believes Felder did the same until something clicked that made fighting seem like a real option again. It’s a feeling only fighters would understand, which is why Brown wasn’t surprised at Felder’s decision much less anybody else opting to compete again after calling it a career.
“When he walked away, he probably had every plan to walk away,” Brown said. “I did the same thing. When I retired, I had every plan to walk away but when you’ve got that inside of you, how do you get rid of it? You’ve got to create an entirely new identity for yourself. You’re no longer a fighter. That’s not who you are anymore. That’s who you were.”
“Joseph Benavidez was an interesting one and I talked with him about it a little bit. He doesn’t even go into the gym anymore. I think he said he will for his friends or to help out somebody that he likes or something like that but he doesn’t even really go train. He’s like ‘I don’t even want to be around it’ and so when you can step that far away, you might even need to do that.”
For more insights from Brown and other fighters, tune in to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Stitcher.