LAS VEGAS – Marion Reneau won’t have any regrets when she retires from MMA competition following Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 26 co-main event with Miesha Tate.
From the moment the fight was announced, Reneau (9-7-1 MMA, 5-6-1 UFC) made it clear this would be her swan song. At 44, she’s currently the oldest active member of the UFC roster, and she said she’s had her fill of fights.
Although fighting Tate (18-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC), a former UFC and Strikeforce champion who is coming out of retirement, is one of the biggest fights of Reneau’s career, she’s more than content with it being the last.
“I’m good – I am good,” Reneau told MMA Junkie of her retirement decision at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 26 media day. “I’m looking forward to not stepping on the scale again. I am looking forward to eating whatever I want. I am looking forward to being less obsessive with the game. I threw my entire self into mixed martial arts 15 years ago when I started, and I didn’t stop. I didn’t stop for a reunion, I didn’t stop for a death in the family, not for a party. Nothing. I obsessed. I think it’ll be rewarding to be less obsessive.”
Reneau said she’s known for some time that this would be her exit point from the sport. She signed a four-fight UFC contract in early 2019 and always had it in the back of her mind that would be her final deal.
“I’m going to look phenomenal,” Reneau said. “Back when I signed my four-fight contract I knew I would be 43, 44 years old. Everyone asked me, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I knew that’s when I was going to retire.”
Reneau said she’s trying to take in each passing moment of fight week because she’s not going to experience it again. She’s embracing the little things more than usual.
“Everything’s happening so fast. Everything’s coming full force,” Reneau said. “I am taking it in like, ‘Let me enjoy each moment. Really think about every question. Answer wholeheartedly.’”
Ultimately, Reneau said the priority is to get her hand raised, which is not something she’s felt during a four-fight losing skid. It’s her mission to make sure she not only goes out on a win, but an emphatic one.
“You have one coming in (from retirement), you have one going out,” Reneau said. “I think the way they did, it (was great). … I want to make an exclamation point on finishing my journey. Not a period. An exclamation point.”
Watch the full media day interview with Reneau above.
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Marion Reneau eager to be done with MMA after UFC on ESPN 26: ‘I am good’
