Ryan LaFlare recently announced his retirement from MMA, but a recent opponent thinks he’s calling it quits sooner than he needs to.
UFC welterweight Tony Martin, who knocked out LaFlare in the third round at UFC 229 earlier this month, said he believes LaFlare, a one-time UFC headliner and once-ranked welterweight, “still has a lot of miles left.”
“I truly believe that he’s still one of the top welterweights, and I think he has still the ability to beat a lot of the top fighters in the world,” Martin told BloodyElbow.com. “I think he’s a very strong fighter.”
Martin said he had a few words with LaFlare in the green room after their fight in Las Vegas. LaFlare, 35, admitted to Martin, 28, that he was less hungry than him, Martin said. Ironically, Martin called LaFlare out leading up to the fight, questioning whether they were “selling a fight” or “selling retirement.”
“Obviously, where I’m at in my career and where he’s at, it’s a little different,” said Martin, who suggested LaFlare try out PFL next year, as the welterweight tournament would “strongly favor him.”
Martin said he never wants to see an opponent retire after their fight — the Illinois native might be going for the win on fight night, but he’s “not trying to ruin anyone’s career,” he said.
“I gotta look out for myself, obviously, when I get in there, and I know every win is huge,” Martin said. “It’s business, and I’m gonna try to take them out and do as much damage as possible in the fight.
“But there’s not a lot of money in the sport. So, when you think about it, a win his huge — not just in the trajectory of your career, but financially.”
Training costs and manager fees can add up, especially when a fighter falls short in the cage, Martin said. He ultimately wants to see everyone make the most money possible — that’s why he never wants to send a fighter home for good. It’s already tough to make a good living in MMA as is.
“If you lose, you probably don’t make any money because you put so much into the camp, then you feel like everything’s over, everything’s caving in,” Martin said. “I don’t want to beat someone and then them be like, ‘Oh, I don’t have it anymore, I’m done, I retire.’ It’s hard to make money in the sport.
“I’ve made more money in my last two fights than I have my whole career. That’s the process of the sport — [money] comes with winning. I haven’t made a lot of money. It’s not like I’m making crazy amounts of money. But that’s where the sport’s at. Winning is so huge in your financial life, which is what puts a lot of stress (on fighters), as well. That probably what he feels like, that’s probably why he’s retiring. It’s not the loss that’s killing him — it’s the financial burden.”