UFC welterweight James Krause has announced his retirement from the sport amid arguably the greatest run of his career. On The MMA Hour, 36-year-old Krause, who trained Brandon Moreno ahead of his interim title fight at UFC 277, revealed that he’s happy to leave the sport he loves at the top of his game.
This last week for me, I had a herniated disk — I have a herniated disk in my neck — and it was giving me real problems going into that [UFC 277] fight week. And I was very close to just officially saying it. It’s hard for me to [say]. This is the problem with most fighters is, it’s hard to let that go. It’s really hard to let that go. But I could tell you with almost 100-percent confidence that you guys will probably never see me fight again. And I’m good with that. I feel OK with that.
James Krause Retires from MMA
I’ve said this so many times, and this is the No. 1 problem with the sport and the fighters — this has to come to an end at some point. It has to. And professional athletics as a whole has to come to an end. Football players, they don’t play until they’re 50.
This has to come to an end, and unfortunately, we don’t get to pick it. Most of the time our body gets to pick it. I am fortunate enough to be able to call my shot now, and I can say it now — s*** man, you’re never going to see me fight again,” he continued.
I am done with this sport. I’m at peace with it. I have no desire to fight again. I really don’t. My desires and my fulfillment have now shifted toward coaching. Moments like Brandon Moreno and the rest of my team, I get fulfillment out of those. So you can call this my official retirement or whatever, but I do not plan on ever fighting in the UFC ever again.”
Krause continued, pointing out that he no longer needs to fight, and is happy to leave the game with his body and mind intact.
“I wanted three things out of this whenever I called it quits. I said I wanted to be financially free. I’ve done that. To be honest with you, I would probably lose money if I fought. I wanted to go out on my own terms. I didn’t want somebody to be like, ‘Hey James, you lost three in a row.’ And I wanted to retire in the UFC. Those were my three goals, and I wanted to go out on a win — a win in the UFC. Right now, all of those three things are accomplished.
If I would fight again, it would put it at risk for no reason. I don’t need the money. I don’t need the validation.” Krause will likely remain involved in MMA in a coaching role. Should more fighters leave the game the way James Krause did? Let us know in the comments.
