5 retired MMA fighters who could still compete at a high level
MMA is a cruel sport. One moment, a fighter is at the peak of their success, reigning as a world champion or authoring a historical win streak. However, time comes for everyone, eventually dragging fighters into retirement. Though not everyone who retires can no longer compete at the highest level.
Dustin Poirier recently competed for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 302, mounting a valiant effort against reigning champion Islam Makhachev, before finally succumbing to a fifth-round D'Arce choke. After what was his third failure to capture undisputed UFC gold, Poirier contemplated retirement.
If he does indeed retire, he will be one of the several fighters to walk away from MMA, while still possessing the skill-set to compete with the best in his division. But other than 'The Diamond,' who else is part of this prestigious class of retirees?
#5 Ronda Rousey, MMA retirement date: 2018
Ronda Rousey is the former UFC women's bantamweight champion and the first woman to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. She is a legend of women's MMA, with her stint in the sport being defined by her unbeaten run before it all came to a disastrous halt against Holly Holm.
Despite the judoka's two losses to 'The Preacher's Daughter' and Amanda Nunes, she is still more than capable of competing with the very best at 135 pounds. Holm has declined massively, and is no longer the mobile counterpuncher she used to be, having changed into a wall-and-stall clinch fighter. Nunes, meanwhile, retired.
The women's bantamweight division has not evolved from a technical standpoint. Raquel Pennington, of all people, is the current champion, and most 135-pounders still lack the lateral movement and tight counterpunching that Holm used to beat Rousey. Moreover, no one has punching power like Nunes.
Most bantamweights still rush into the clinch, attempt head-and-arm throws, and can't stop submission specialists with poor footwork and rudimentary Judo like Mayra Bueno Silva. 'Rowdy,' would have a field day in a division where Julianna Peña has been submitted by Germaine de Randamie, a striker and white belt.
#4 Alistair Overeem, MMA retirement date: 2023
Legendary MMA heavyweight Alistair Overeem is a recent retiree from the sport. While he never captured UFC gold, he is a former world champion, having held the heavyweight titles in Strikeforce and DREAM. His success stemmed from his world-class striking, well-rounded game, and imposing physicality.
It carried him to several win streaks in the UFC heavyweight division. Despite being 44 years old, Overeem would have had the benefit of competing in a fairly shallow heavyweight division, where poorly conditioned fighters as unremarkable in skill as Marcin Tybura, Serghei Spivac, and Derrick Lewis are in the top 10.
This isn't to say that the Dutchman would be a champion or even a top five talent if he were still fighting. However, he'd be competing at a high-enough level to still be comfortably in the top 10, given how shallow the UFC heavyweight division is.
#3 Angela Lee, MMA retirement date: 2023
Angela Lee was one of ONE Championship's stars in the women's MMA scene. Today, she is still in her 20s, and holds the record for the longest championship reign in ONE history, having reigned as the promotion's atomweight champion for seven consecutive years, with five title defenses.
She was a grappling dynamo, with 8 of her 11 wins coming by way of submission. She retired in 2023, still at the peak of her powers, due to the untimely death of her younger sister, Victoria Lee in late 2022. The grief proved too much for the former ONE titleholder to bear, so she walked away from the sport.
Were she to return to ONE or author a new run in the UFC as a strawweight, which is a weight class she is more than familiar with, Lee would be an instant success. While she may not enthrone herself as a world champion, she is armed with enough skill and youth to compete well within the top 10, even top five.
#2 Khabib Nurmagomedov, MMA retirement date: 2020
There is, perhaps, no retirement that invokes more strong feelings than Khabib Nurmagomedov's decision to stop fighting in 2020. Due to a promise he had made to his mother in the wake of his father's tragic death, 'The Eagle' has clung to his convictions without wavering.
He retired unbeaten, with a 29-0 record and as the defending UFC lightweight champion after submitting Justin Gaethje to rack up his third title defense. He was dominant throughout his career, outwrestling everyone to decisive results, including the likes of Dustin Poirier, who just fought for the title.
He also walked through Gaethje, a recent 'BMF' titleholder. There is little doubt that, were Nurmagomedov to return from retirement, he would be a top three threat and even a potential champion, regardless of Islam Makhachev's current tenure at the top.
#1 Amanda Nunes, MMA retirement date: 2023
At this point in the history of women's MMA, there is no fighter greater than Amanda Nunes. She is the only female fighter to become a two-division UFC champion, and has beaten 8 different titleholders in the promotion, including all-time greats in Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg.
She was regarded as unbeatable during the last stretch of her career, due to her well-rounded skill-set and nuclear punching power, which left her opponents frozen in fear.'The Lioness' was so dominant, in fact, that one of the women to whom she handed one of the most one-sided beatings is now the bantamweight champion.
If Nunes decided to return, there is no doubt that she would easily slot right back into title contention and dethrone Pennington in classic 'Lioness' fashion. The division has experienced little change besides the signing of Kayla Harrison, who, while skilled, has not yet proven herself as Nunes' equal.