Ray Borg Backtracks On Retirement
Ray Borg shocked the MMA world when he announced his retirement aged just 27 after being released from the UFC. The former flyweight title challenger has now quickly backtracked on calling it a career. In an interview with Sherdog Borg explained what initially prompted him to retire at such a young age, he said.
“To be truly honest, my depression and stress got the best of me, and I was really in it that day. I was just done. I just didn’t want much more of the sport. I have a family. I have a wife, I have a son, and the first thing I thought to myself was, ‘I let myself get cut from the UFC, and I’ve got to put food on the table. I’ve got to provide, keep the lights on. I think the best thing to do for myself and my family is to straight up get 9-to-5 (job).’ As gut wrenching as something like that is to say, I’ve got a son. He’s got medical bills. He has MRI check-ups and things like that. I’ve got to provide for him, and I’ve got to make sure that’s OK. So my first thought was, ‘I’ve got to call it quits. I’ve got to be done, and I’ve got to just live that blue-collar life.’”
Borg went on to reveal that the reaction of his family and people he’d trained prompted this U-turn.
“I had intentions on retiring. I really did,” Borg said. “But I started getting messages from people, and the ones that really hit me hard were messages from kids who I used to coach and train, young kids who come from troubled beginnings and things like that. And I always strived and told them to work hard, and they can get themselves out of the gutter. And I had some kids message me saying, ‘Hey, coach, you can’t retire. You taught me to be tougher than that. You’re too young. You have too much skills. You can’t retire. It’s too soon for you. You’re only 27.’
“Then I talked to me wife, and to be honest, my wife didn’t really know I decided I was going to retire. So she comes at me (and asks), ‘What are you doing? Why are you retiring?’ I was like, ‘I have to. I’ve got to pay the bills for you guys.’ And she’s like, ‘Nah, you can’t.’ And she let me know I owe it to my son. I can’t have my son look at me in 10 years and tell me, ‘Dad, why’d you quit?’ I’m one of the most talented guys in the world, I feel. On a good day I’m unbeatable. I just couldn’t do it. I owe it to too many people to get myself out of this gutter and try to make it.”
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