The Doctor's Stoppage MMA Blog

 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 ca...

 We've had a string of MMA retirements over the last few weeks and given the way the MMA news cycle works, it isn't always easy to give those fighters the recognition that they deserve. While it is a bit removed from the actual announcement, we're finally catching up on the retirement of UFC featherweight contender Zabit Magomedsharipov. This is truly one of the most interesting retirement stories that we've seen in MMA at least in a long time. All retirements are sad to an extent as we come to know these athletes over the years and not being able to see them compete anymore and knowing they will have to find something to fill the void left in their lives is something that everyone has to deal with to some degree. The Zabit retirement feels a bit more sad since we never got to see him fully realize his potential as he has walked away much younger and much earlier in his career than we typically see in this sport. MMA is a sport that we see far more athletes retire sever...

 Following her loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275, Joanna Jedrzejczyk placed her gloves down in the center of the cage and announced that she would be stepping away from MMA competition. She had a lot to say in the cage about how she felt like she let people down and disappointed so many people, which we can chalk up to the emotions of the situation. Given how she was finished, Joanna probably felt like she didn't live up to the expectations she set for herself coming in, but also maybe felt like the fight didn't live up to the first because she got knocked out instead of going to decision. Now that all of that has worn off, I would think that Joanna doesn't believe that she actually let anyone down. I know that none of the fans feel that way. She is one of the greatest fighters in the history of women's MMA and just UFC history in general. She is one of the greatest champions that the UFC has ever seen. I think the influx of newer fans since the pandemic may not realize th...

 The MMA world has seen a lot of the legends of the last generation walk away from the sport over the last couple of years and it is time for another to ride off into the sunset. British MMA trailblazer Paul "Semtex" Daley won his last professional MMA fight this past Friday at Bellator 281 in vintage fashion. Daley is truly an MMA lifer and it was a bit bitter sweet to see him walk away from the sport. I found myself getting a bit emotional as the fight was going on, which is odd because it isn't like I'm some Paul Daley die hard or anything like that. Maybe I've just gotten soft as I've gotten older, but I find myself really rooting for the older guys to have that moment on their way out. Daley had said months in advance that this would be his final fight, so everyone knew as he was making the walk and then when the fight started he was getting wrestled very heavily. It felt like such a frustrating way for the fight to be going as Daley was being clinched an...

 In the middle of last week, long time World Series of Fighting and UFC veteran Marlon Moraes announced that he was retiring from MMA competition. I said this not too long ago when I talked about Ben Rothwell, but I want to take the time to acknowledge the older fighters on their way out and this is an opportunity to do so. Moraes had been having a really rough go of it over the last couple of years and it had led a lot of people to suggest that retirement was near. I think after his last fight that even I hoped that he would call it a career in order to preserve his long term health. These are the type of early retirements that make me sad in a different way. A lot of times in MMA, we see older fighters who just don't have it any more and the fights themselves are really sad to watch. Someone like BJ Penn comes to mind. Marlon Moraes was not one of those fighters. What was sad about watching Marlon is that he still had a lot of the skills required to be a very high level fighter. ...