We've had our share of MMA retirements over the last month and we finally have a break in the news cycle to get to one of them and maybe another tomorrow. This probably isn't the one you were expecting, but I had to get to him as his was long overdue. Eddie Wineland retired from the sport of MMA after his loss to Cody Stamann on the Kattar vs Emmett card. The newer fans or even the fans that latched on during the pandemic may not know exactly who Eddie Wineland is or may not have the full view of what he has accomplished in this sport, which is why this retirement post is something that I really wanted to do.
Eddie Wineland started his professional MMA career all the way back in 2003 in at Maximum Combat 6, where he picked up a submission victory. He actually had a rocky start to his career and fought to a record of 3-4 with 1 draw over the first year and change of his career. It was at that point that something clicked for Wineland and he went on the very best run of his career, winning 9 fights in a row. Of those 9 wins, 7 of them came inside the distance. The 8th win in that streak came against Antonio Banuelos at WEC 20 and crowned Wineland the inaugural WEC bantamweight champion. In 2022, men's bantamweight is one of the hottest divisions in the entire sport, but at that time, it was kind of looked at how women's featherweight is in today's UFC. Wineland was one of the early pioneers of the smaller men's divisions and helped bring some more legitimacy and fan attention to them given his tendency to finish fights. He would win a fight outside of the WEC, but he would lose the belt in his first defense of it to Chase Beebe. He would pick up a couple of wins before dropping a fight to Rani Yahya before putting together another nice 4 fight winning streak. The final win of that streak came at WEC 53, which was the last event in the history of the promotion before it merged with the UFC. That particular win for Wineland was one of the biggest highlights from his career as well as he got a slam knockout over Ken Stone. He essentially Bautista Bombs him if you get the reference and have never seen the video. After the merger with the UFC, Wineland was never really able to fully find his footing. He would win a couple then lose a couple and then alternate wins and losses, never having a winning or losing streak longer than 2 fights until the very end of his career. In that time, he fought some of the best to come through those smaller divisions in the era. He lost his first two in the UFC to Urijah Faber and Joe Benavidez, but then picked up two wins over Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett. That was enough to get him a fight for the interim bantamweight title, but he would come up short against Renan Barao. He would maintain a rocky pace of wins and losses until much more recently, when he would lose 5 of his last 6. The last three of those losses would come via pretty brutal knockouts to Sean O'Malley, John Castaneda, and Cody Stamann. I don't bring that up to end on a sour note, but rather to acknowledge that it was in fact time. Wineland seemed to know it as well and I'm glad he was able to get out before he did any further damage to his body. Seeing Wineland knocked out, especially in his last two, by punches he used to walk through without issue was tough, but I'm ultimately glad he didn't try to hang on any longer.
Eddie Wineland is one of those fighters who can't be fully summarized by just a list of accomplishments or a traditional resume. Wineland is what they call "a fighter's fighter" and he embodied what so many fans love about this sport. He was a very skilled fighter in all regards, but he was known for his striking and, in particular, his brawling sort of style. Wineland was a guy who wasn't afraid to get into a fight and start trading with his opponents. He is cut from the same cloth as Cowboy Cerrone and was always down to scrap. I can't overstate was his style meant to those smaller men's divisions at the time and how important he was for getting those divisions in the good graces of the fan base. Recently, it has been a topic of debate about how entertaining certain fighters are. Wineland was one of those guys who was almost always going to put on a show and have the fans out of their seats at the end of the night. Unfortunately, I was a bit too young and didn't get into the sport early enough to catch most of the best years of Wineland's career. However, the highlights will always exist. My favorite highlight of Wineland's has to be the slam knockout at the final WEC event. The force and speed he is able to generate as he drives his opponent to the canvas is incredible to watch. My favorite memory of Wineland that I got to see in real time was what ended up being the final win of his career. His knockout of Grigory Popov was brutal. The speed in Wineland's strikes, even at the end, was impressive and he was landing all of those shots flush. It was a really fun finish on a really big card and is something I will remember Wineland for.
Congratulations to Eddie Wineland on a fantastic career filled with great fights and moments. As fans, all we can do is thank him for the memories and wish him the best with whatever he wants to do in the next stage of his life. Hopefully he still wants to be involved in the sport somehow and is someone that they will show if he ever attends future events. Thank you to Eddie Wineland for so many memories and best of luck in retirement.
Leave your favorite Eddie Wineland moment or fight in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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