UFC flyweight Jimmy Flick has made the unexpected decision to retire from MMA.
Flick (16-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who won his lone octagon appearance with a flying triangle choke that earned “Performance of the Night” honors at UFC Fight Night 183 in December, revealed Saturday at a Freestyle Cage Fighting event in Tulsa, Okla., that he’s hit the end when it comes to competition.
According to Flick, who has been a professional since May 2010, his passion for the sport has fizzled and he doesn’t have the drive to do big things any more.
He said two of his goals for 2020 were to make $100,000 fighting and make at least one walk to the UFC octagon. He accomplished both of those things, and now he’s ready to move on.
“The UFC is not my dream anymore,” Flick said in a video posted by “The Corner & The Casual” on Facebook. “It is hard to explain. It brings tears to my eyes. But the UFC is not looking out for me. My wife’s looking out for me. My kids are looking out for me. That’s what I want. I want to be their father. I want to go to work every day (and) come home with my family. I want to come home to my little girls. I want to spend time with my wife.
“I don’t want to be the next Conor McGregor or the next Demetrious Johnson. So tonight, I step into this cage tonight and tell everybody that I’m retiring from mixed martial arts. I’m going to pursue other goals in life that make me more happy than fighting.”
Flick, 30, was scheduled to fight Francisco Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night on May 8, but it appears that bout will no longer happen.
With his gloves hung up, Flick said he intends on shifting focus to telling his story. He has a full-time job outside of fighting, and he appears to think there are less risky means to supporting his family going forward.
“I have three new goals in life: Spend more time with my family, help my wife reach her goals, and my third goal is to finish the book I started over a year ago to tell my story – to tell my life, to tell everybody why I did this,” Flick said.
Jimmy Flick announces retirement from MMA: ‘The UFC is not my dream anymore’
