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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Jordan Mein's been conspicuously absent from the welterweight conversation since his January loss to Thiago Alves, and there's a very good explanation for that: he's retired.
The 25-year-old is stepping away from the sport after almost 40 fights, and he told UFC.com this week he's simply ready to move on with his life after the time he's already dedicated to the sport.
"I'm ready to transition to a different part of my life," he said. "I've been at this for 12 years, 10 years professionally, so I'm just ready to move on in my life... I really got into teaching. I love martial arts, it's just the competition side of it, staying at that high intensity and high level, and I'm going to a different aspect of life. I just don't want to compete anymore at the highest level. I still love to compete in the gym, and I'm more into wanting to teach and maybe even going a different route and getting away from martial arts and doing something else. I don't know yet."
Mein entered the UFC in 2013 after a short run in Strikeforce, and he picked up three of five wins inside the Octagon in his run. Still, despite stoppage losses to Matt Brown and Thiago Alves, Mein says he feels entirely satisfied with the way his career played out.
"I'm super happy with the way my career went and everything I've done in the sport, so I don't really have that feeling of 'I can't retire because I haven't done anything in my career and I don't feel satisfied,'" he said. "I do feel satisfied, and I'm happy with myself. I'm not coming to the gym saying 'I made the wrong decision.' I'm feeling good about the choices I made in my career. I think it would be different if I didn't feel that way and if it was a forced situation."
Penick's Analysis: It's definitely a bit of a shock to see a 25-year-old fighter call it quits, but when you look at how much mileage he put on his body in this sport, it's not nearly as surprising. Mein fought nearly 40 times as a professional, and he may have hit a ceiling in where he was going. It takes a different level of motivation to be a professional fighter, and he's been tapping into that for so long already that it's a piece of him that's faded. He's recognized that, and is rightfully moving on. It's a move worthy of applause, and I wish him the best as he moves on from active competition.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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