David Larsen 
@adminUFC Flyweight star Joseph Benavidez has announced his retirement from MMA. The four-time UFC title challenger finally decided to call his career off. Joseph decided to call it off after having 36 MMA fights. He was a long-time UFC lower-weight division veteran. He has fought 26 fights in the UFC with 19 wins and 7 losses. Joseph had fought for the title four times in the UFC. He recently fought for the flyweight title in back-to-back fights against Deiveson Figueiredo. He also fought former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson, twice and lost both fights.
In his last fought, he faced off against Askar Askarov at UFC 259. At the weigh-ins, Askar weighed in at 127 pounds, which is one pound over the flyweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Askarov was fined, which went to Benavidez. Benavidez went on to lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Joseph Benavidez’s wife and UFC reporter Megan Olivi confirmed the news on social media.
“Retirement adventures are gonna be fun ☺️👑❤️ My King Forever
@JoeJitsu”
UFC President Dana White Reacted To Benavidez Retirement Announcement
UFC president Dana White provided a statement to ESPN on Benavidez’s retirement.
“Joe Benavidez has been a pillar of the lighter weight divisions for years, White said. “Since joining WEC in 2008 and then UFC in 2011, he’s used his unstoppable pace and nasty guillotine to remain at the top of two divisions for 13 years. His epic battles with (Dominick) Cruz, (Demetrious) Johnson, and (Henry) Cejudo will never be forgotten. He was a constant professional and carried himself in a way that demanded respect from his peers.”
Joseph Opens Up On Retirement
“I’ve known I’ve been retired, so I didn’t also think it would be an emotional thing,” Benavidez told TSN. “But just reading a bunch of stuff, I was crying in the backyard – so it’s been a good day. I haven’t been able to put anything out myself yet.”
“It just kind of came very sudden,” Benavidez said. “I’ve actually known I was going to retire for a while, but you have to make it official, I guess, to retire and do all that stuff – like tell the people that it concerns, like (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard, that you’re going to retire, and USADA and all that. So I actually just had to kind of do that yesterday because I was bored. I was like, ‘I should probably make this official.’ I’ve kind of been retired, in a way.”
“So I talked to Mick, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re probably going to be out of the rankings here soon, so people will probably know what’s happening.’ I said cool. He said it’ll probably be until Monday, but then I got out of a workout, and I had a few people messaging me, and I was like, ‘Well, here we go. That’s how it is.’ In all honesty, I hadn’t really had time to post and to really take it all in.”
Joseph Benavidez Also Released His Statement On Instagram
“The news is out – I’ve decided to retire from competing in the sport of MMA. This journey has been more wild than I ever imagined, full of memories I will always cherish with people I will always love.”
“15 years – From the early days fighting at Dream in Japan to all the battles at 135 In the WEC to starting up the flyweight division in the UFC. Im so grateful for all the ups and downs, it’s truly been an honor to compete for so long.”
“Thank you to every single coach, training partner that ever helped me, my amazing peers that have inspired me, some I’m lucky to now call friends and to all the teammates I’ve sat in the trenches with that I’m lucky to now call brothers.”
“And to the UFC organization for giving me a place to call home all these years and every UFC employee for taking care of me like family.
Thank you to every media member that has ever covered me. Also Thank You so much to all the fans, that make this possible and for all your never-ending support. And thank you most of all to my Queen and biggest fan who has been there through it all.”
