Darren Till has interesting take on why he thinks Dana White tells fighters to retire

During the UFC 292 post-fight press conference UFC president Dana White urged Chris Weidman to retire following his loss. 

“I love Chris Weidman – I love him,” White said.”I love his family. I think he should retire. We talked to Dr. (Davidson). He thinks he blew his ACL, MCL – he blew one of the CLs. The guy is just coming back from a gruesome injury and, listen man: Father Time is not our friend at all, but definitely, if you’re a professional athlete. Depending on the damage to the knee, you’re talking another year. So I would say: ‘Chris, I love you. Please, please retire’.”

Former UFC fighter Darren Till thinks the UFC and White should stop telling fighters to retire.

“I don’t know if it’s good for the UFC,” Till said during an interview with bettingsites.co.uk. “Anytime Dana says anything I just take it with a pinch of salt. He’s a businessman so 90 percent of what he says must be good because the UFC is so successful. Maybe it’s reverse psychology. He’s trying to get them back in the ring?”

Till didn’t directly say that he thinks Weidman should or shouldn’t retire, but other fighters have. 

UFC legend Matt Brown doesn’t think Weidman should retire. 

“I give credit to Brad Tavares and hopefully Weidman can come back and fight some more guys. I don’t agree with Dana. I don’t think Chris needs to retire,” Brown said while on the Fighter vs. Writer podcast. “I think he can come back and still do great things in the sport, just don’t fight Brad Tavares. The dude is a bad matchup for you.”

Weidman is just returning from a lengthy layoff due to a vicious broken leg and White is right, he could be out another year with the injuries he sustained in the fight with Tavares. At 39 years old, Weidman is nearing the end of his career anyway. 

“I’m not sure why Dana is saying that, but he’s entitled to his own opinion. Dana is a strong, opinionated guy. It is what it is,” Brown said. “Dana, he likes to see guys performing at their best, especially the guys that he likes. He doesn’t like to see guys go out there and not perform at their best. That’s why I can’t say it (enough) times, I think it was Brad Tavares.”