Twenty one fight MMA veteran Ian McCall has announced his retirement as a professional MMA fighter, ending a storied career with a final record of 13-7-1.
While McCall still feels like he could fight, one thing that lead to the fighters retirement is that the status of “best fighter in the world” is so far out of reach.
“I’ve had a good run, it’s been fun, but at the same time, it’s over. After enough shenanigans that I’ve been through, I think physically I could still do it. Physically I go in the gym, I train hard. I beat people up, I have a good time, I love doing it, but with my luck and I hate to be the guy that’s like, ‘It always happens to me, the bad things always happen to me,’ well they kind of do in this sport. ... I’m not gaining ground, I’m not getting closer to being the best in the world. The steps are getting farther and farther away and I’m not in this to be anything but the best in the world. And if I cannot compete at that level of the best in the world, then it’s just not worth it for me,” McCall says on The MMA Hour.
During his near sixteen year MMA career, a now retired McCall picked up some notable wins over Jussier Formiga, Dustin Ortiz, Darrell Montague and Brad Pickett.
The longtime MMA fighter ended his professional MMA career with fights in the Rizin promotion, but the breaks didn’t come the competitors way.
“In Japan, after the fight I just went, you know what, I hate saying this but I can’t catch a break. (Joe) Rogan always talks a bunch of s**t about how people are always like ‘they can’t catch a break’, well I can’t catch a break. But that’s okay, I’m just going to change my situation so I can catch a break,” McCall said.
McCall’s last professional MMA fight took place earlier this month at Rizin 10, where he suffered a first round knockout loss to fellow UFC veteran Kyoji Horiguchi.
