UFC 313 on Saturday night provided a little bit of everything, from pre-event drama, a big title upset, and a complete shock retirement.
At UFC 313 on Saturday, Alex Pereira looked to defend his light heavyweight title for a fourth time when he took on Magomed Ankalaev in the main event.
The night got off to a pretty hectic start when the promotion announced that fights including Curtis Blaydes and Chris Gutierrez had been canceled due to last-minute illness’ in both camps.
Not only that but fans began getting restless as the card suffered delays due to the canceled bouts, leading to complaints.
Despite that, the event lived up to expectation and the main event provided a big shock as Ankalaev picked up the unanimous decision win over Pereira, causing a big upset.
Dana White reacts to Jalin Turner’s shock UFC retirement
As well as a Knockout of the Year contender from Mauricio Ruffy, the main card also included a shock retirement.
Following his first round loss to Ignacio Bahamondes, Jalin Turner took off his gloves and indicated that he was shockingly retiring from the sport at just 29 years old.
After taking some time to consider his decision, Turner revealed the exact details regarding his retirement in a post-fight interview, stating that he had been considering it since his loss at UFC 300 last April.
Turner has had a rough time in the Octagon as of late, having only picked up one win in his last five fights.
Despite that, the former lightweight contenders retirement came as a huge shock, considering he is just 29 years old and was once considered a dark horse in the lightweight division because of his unique style.
During the UFC 313 post-fight press conference, UFC boss, Dana White shared his thoughts regarding Turner’s decision.
“Yeah, he yelled through the cage to me and I said, ‘Yeah, alright’, I let the truck know that he was gonna retire and then I think somebody talked him out of retiring in the Octagon tonight, I don’t know if it was Belal (Muhammad) or who it was,” Dana began to explain.
“Yeah, you know how I feel about that, usually when you start (considering retirement), rarely do I disagree with somebody when they feel like they wanna retire,” the boss continued.
What’s next for Jalin Turner following UFC retirement?
Turner was once ranked amongst the top 10 at lightweight and because of his abnormally large frame, he seemingly stood as a tough puzzle for all of his opponents.
The Dana White’s Contender Series alum doesn’t fully know what path he will go down following his retirement, however, the 29-year-old has admitted that he likely won’t stray too far away from the fight game.
We are seeing more often that retired fighters are being given several opportunities by the UFC in their post-fight careers, with Paul Felder, Michael Bisping, Dominick Cruz, and Anthony Smith to name a few still working with the promotion in commentary and analysis gigs.