Dana White: Griffin and Hughes need to retire, there is nothing left to prove
Posted on August 3, 2012, 11:03 PM by Mike Searson
Former Welterweight champion Matt Hughes (45-9 MMA, 18-7 UFC) and former Light Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) are two fighters that UFC President Dana White thinks need to hang up their gloves. At a press conference yesterday White said: “Hughes is one of these guys that, I absolutely, positively want Matt Hughes to retire. What else is there to accomplish? The guy’s done everything. He’s been a staple in this organization for a long time. He’s been f&@*ing awesome. There’s nothing left to prove. It’s so hard for these guys to say ‘I’m retired.’ It’s so hard. I went through the same thing with Chuck (Liddell), now I’m going through it with Matt.”
Hughes hasn’t fought since he suffered a knockout loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 135 last year. That was his second straight loss by knockout setback after B.J. Penn KOed him in 21 seconds at UFC 123.
Griffin, on the other hand, recently won via split decision over Tito Ortiz at UFC 148 last month. Although things got a little strange when he ran from the cage and had to be called back to the Octagon by White before it was announced.
White told the press: “I would like Forrest to retire. There’s nothing left for Forrest to prove, either. He won ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ he’s had an amazing career, he won the title when everyone thought he couldn’t, he’s made s#*% loads of money, he’s got a beautiful wife, he’s got a baby. If you don’t want to be a world champion and you’re not in the mix, like I call it, why? What’s the point? I know it's hard to walk away from walking into the arena with the big crowds and all the s#*%, I get it, but there’s a point in time when it’s like, ‘You’ve done your thing, man. You’ve had an amazing career, you’ve done great things and there’s nothing left to prove'. He doesn’t like hearing it. He doesn’t want to hear it from me.”
Comments
as a forrest fan i can see where people could say he should retire but hes only in his low 30s, and has won 3 of his last 4 fights. jus because he wont ever be in the mix again dosnt mean he should retire. if he still wants to fight cause he loves to fight then i dont see why not. but maybe theres somethin we dont know, like conversations or somethin behind the scenes.
BJ penn needs to retire as well
true, dana is not considering a number of things. like the excitement of competing, thrill of the crowd, overcoming challenges, pushing yourself, big pay checks and such.
im with u, if you still wanna fight , then fight! dont look back and say what if i would have stayed? if he thinks they should retire why not just say F it and cut them??
I just dont remember the last time I cared that Forrest or Hughes were on a card.
Same thing with Rich Franklin...
I think Dana just wants these guys off his cards - cause he wants to free up space for more marketable fights.
As for what the fighters want - A fighter always believes he can do more - heck that's why they're fighters - I agree with you fully.
But in the end this a business and not a place to come challenge yourself as you become less and less relevant in the rankings.
Dana has the best job - as fighters fight their asses off - he gets to respectfully let them know that they now suck - yet because he is a talker no one will say to him - Dana you have nothing left to prove it 's time for you to retire - look at all you have done for the UFC - Thanks a bunch!
im 50/50 with bj retiring. i dont think he should fight at 170, a motivated bj at 155 is always dangerous. but i really dont think hes into fighting like he used to be.
Why should BJ retire? He is still a dangerous fight for anyone at LW and most at WW. He also doesn't have any real KO losses (the TKOs are all lacking real damage). If he wants to fight why shouldn't he?
Yeah I agree. At this point, I believe BJ really has nothing to prove either. He already knows he's left his mark in MMA history but I think he's trying to prove something to himself. He has a personal vendetta with the Tri-Star gym and he wants to show that he can withstand the new generation of MMA fighters.
isnt a hole lot of fighters past 30 that are in top 10 or even compete and at 35 thats usually it........
Are you for real???
Well as money hungry and your typical organization is its pretty big for Dana so say he wants a cash cow like Forest to retire. True he's never going to be real competition for the top LHW guys but he will continue to bring in PPV buys. Im glad he wants him to retire though Id rather see better fighters getting those spots.
What good is it for them to say they are retired? It's not as though Dana can hold them to it. They can always compete in Bellator or Strikeforce if they want. Dana needs to have the balls to just tell them he's not resigning a new contract. Sometimes its just better if someone else pulls the plug.
Does no one care that forrest's speech gets more slurred and punchy every time we hear him?
The guy has damaged his brain in some UFC wars!! Not to mention all his amateur fights before. You can't stop punches with your face your whole career without paying the piper eventually.
dana you should retire. youve proved enough. you bought a company that everyone thought was going nowhere. you made it into something amazing when no1 thought you could. youve made a shit ton of money and put the UFC on FOX! now your in your 40's its time to go......easier said than done. Hughes and griffin are icons of the sport, they will decide when its time to go
Matt should call it quits already, and the only reason Dana is mentioning Forrest is cuz Dana has always favored and praised Forrest he doesn't want to see Forrest starting to get knocked out out like Chuck had been at the end of his career