Jimmy Flick announced his retirement from
fighting earlier today. pretty upset we won’t get to see his
grappling anymore, the man was a monster on the ground. pic.twitter.com/ZefRYTlK1Y— ricky (@mysticcrick)
April 11, 2021
In just a few weeks, Jimmy Flick
was supposed to square off against Francisco
Figueiredo at
UFC on ESPN 24.
Instead, the 30-year-old flyweight is calling it a career. Flick
made his
retirement announcement on Saturday at a Freestyle Cage
Fighting event in Tulsa, Okla., an organization where he was once
125-pound champion.
“A lot of people keep asking me where I see myself in 10 years.
‘Where do you see yourself in the UFC?’ To be honest, everybody,
the UFC is not my dream no more,” Flick said. “A lot of people
won’t understand why. It’s hard to explain and it does bring tears
to my eyes, but the UFC is not looking out for me. My wife is
looking out for me, my kids are looking out for me and that’s what
I want. I want to be their father. I want to go to work every day,
come home and be with my family. I want to spend time with my
little girls, I want to spend time with my wife.
“And I’ve found out I don’t want to be the next Conor
McGregor, or the next Demetrious
Johnson. So I step in this cage tonight and telling everybody
that I’m retiring from mixed martial arts. I’m gonna pursue the
other goals in life that make me more happy than fighting ever
did.”
Flick, who has won his last four professional fights, earned a UFC
contract with a submission of Nate Smith
on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2020. He then
impressed in his Octagon debut with a flying triangle choke victory
over Cody Durden
at UFC Fight Night 183 this past December. If his retirement holds
up, the 30-year-old Sand Springs, Okla., native exits the sport
with a 16-5 career mark that includes 14 triumphs by way of
submission.