Roger Gracie Retires From MMA Competition, Cites Lack of Motivation

Roger Gracie has decided to walk away from mixed martial arts competition.

Gracie’s last bout was back in May 2016. He captured the inaugural ONE Championship cruiserweight title. Despite being just capturing gold for the first time in his professional MMA career, Gracie felt now was the time to leave.

He explained:

“I decided to stop because I didn’t think MMA was motivating me enough to keep dedicating myself 100 percent to an athlete’s life. I enjoyed it, it was a huge pleasure to do these 10 MMA fights, but I have no other ambitions. I just turned 36. I never wanted to compete longer than 38, and there’s not much else left to conquer in MMA, something that would change my career.”

With that said, Gracie said he is happy with how his career ended.

“I just ended my career at a high level. I would have more to lose than to gain if I kept fighting MMA. If I had the same passion in MMA like I had in jiu-jitsu I would continue, but the only motivation that would keep me in MMA was money, and I’m against doing something focusing only on money. I don’t think I’d even give my 100 percent in this case, so I decided to retire and focus on other things in my life.”