While retirements in combat sports sometimes fail to stick, as of press time, “The Ultimate Fighter 3” alumnus Matt Hamill is done fighting.
Hamill confirmed the story on his official website, attributing it to the persistent wear-and-tear of competing in mixed martial arts.
“My career has been plagued by injuries starting with The Ultimate Fighter and disrupted my training ever since,” explained Hamill. “There hasn’t been even one training camp where I’ve been able to train without training around an injury. I have not been kind to my body and it has nothing left after 28 years of non stop competition. It’s time to finally give it a rest.”
Confirming that he wanted to retire after his UFC 130 loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson but was convinced to give it one last shot at UFC 133, he added that he has lost the desire to continue fighting.
At UFC 133, Hamill lost to Alexander Gustaffson via a second round TKO. Save for a DQ victory over Jon Jones, Hamill had beaten some quality names in Tito Ortiz, Mark Munoz and Keith Jardine (most also feel he was robbed in a decision against Michael Bisping) but had struggled to break past an “upper midcard” level.
Besides Jackson and Gustaffson, Rich Franklin also served as a roadblock for his ascent.
