Feels bad for Stipe.

[188912345]

Imagine receiving a contract and a few mil out of nowhere to go there for like 10 minutes. He didnt expect to earn that kind of money anymore.
I bet hes pretty happy overall

This. I am happy he got a big payday. He seems very content with his life in regards to family, work, etc, so he will probably handle life after fighting well.

 

[goOb]

Has anyone started a GoFundMe to pay for Stipe's new rib cage, lungs and heart?

 

[Prologue]

Prime Stipe definitely wouldve given Jones a tougher fight. But dont feel bad dude. Stipe is relieved to be retired. Dudes the happiest guy in the world now. Just gets to do what he loves fighting fires plus hes rich with a hot wife and nice family. Hes riding off into the sunset. Losing to the GOAT when everyone knows youre past your prime is not a bad way to do it.

Post retirement Stipe

 

[1BadMF]

I'm going to miss Stipe's prank cell phone calls to his wife on "Embedded"

...said no one ever

 

[Mind Mine]

I don't think he was there strictly for a cash grab. You don't put in that amount of work adding muscle mass etc simply to waltz in for a check. He truly thought he could win. When proven incontrovertibly wrong, he pulled the plug.

I get your logic but dude if you are 42 testing yourself to see if you still got it and hey if you do good in the test you’ll keep fighting and not quit and your test proctor is Jon fucking Jones….. Man shut the hell up lol he came for a bag

 

[g*r*b]

I get your logic but dude if you are 42 testing yourself to see if you still got it and hey if you do good in the test you’ll keep fighting and not quit and your test proctor is Jon fucking Jones….. Man shut the hell up lol he came for a bag

I would and you would and pretty much any sane person would, but you are forgetting...these are fighters we're talking about. Worse fighters with worse losing streaks tottering at the end of their careers keep saying they're on their path to the belt. An insane amount of self-confidence is almost mandatory for reaching the higher echelons of the sport.

I don't think it was "if I do well in this test I'll continue." That simply isn't the kind of forethought he goes through. That's the whole point of his "we'll see" statements, precisely because he refuses to think beyond the fight. Not even an either/or possibility. Just...I'll get there when I get there.

And why would he think he needed to test himself, other than a couple of numerals he could laugh off with the old line "Age is just a number?" He felt physically fine, probably better than during a lot of his career what with the rest his body had been getting. With all that work to gain muscle he's probably stronger than he's ever been. No way he wasn't still blasting through his teammates at the gym, he's the only high level guy they've ever produced. His last loss he wrote off as due to not enough mass and a rash mistake when he thought he had his opponent stung, not because of general decline.

========================

There are two things he's said about when he thought he would retire, whenever he was asked by journalists throughout his career:
1. I think about retiring after every fight.
2. I'll stop fighting when it stops being fun.

And there's a third thing that's less known:
3. Long, long ago he talked it through with his coaches and his girlfriend-now-wife, that whatever moment he decided to quit it was fine with them. Like literally he could just stroll up unexpectedly one day and say "I quit," and it would be all good.

So.....
1. it was after the fight where
2. it stopped being fun and
3. he knew it was OK to quit on the spot

....so that's what happened.

 

[Mind Mine]

I would and you would and pretty much any sane person would, but you are forgetting...these are fighters we're talking about. Worse fighters with worse losing streaks tottering at the end of their careers keep saying they're on their path to the belt. An insane amount of self-confidence is almost mandatory for reaching the higher echelons of the sport.

I don't think it was "if I do well in this test I'll continue." That simply isn't the kind of forethought he goes through. That's the whole point of his "we'll see" statements, precisely because he refuses to think beyond the fight. Not even an either/or possibility. Just...I'll get there when I get there.

And why would he think he needed to test himself, other than a couple of numerals he could laugh off with the old line "Age is just a number?" He felt physically fine, probably better than during a lot of his career what with the rest his body had been getting. With all that work to gain muscle he's probably stronger than he's ever been. No way he wasn't still blasting through his teammates at the gym, he's the only high level guy they've ever produced. His last loss he wrote off as due to not enough mass and a rash mistake when he thought he had his opponent stung, not because of general decline.

========================

There are two things he's said about when he thought he would retire, whenever he was asked by journalists throughout his career:
1. I think about retiring after every fight.
2. I'll stop fighting when it stops being fun.

And there's a third thing that's less known:
3. Long, long ago he talked it through with his coaches and his girlfriend-now-wife, that whatever moment he decided to quit it was fine with them. Like literally he could just stroll up unexpectedly one day and say "I quit," and it would be all good.

So.....
1. it was after the fight where
2. it stopped being fun and
3. he knew it was OK to quit on the spot

....so that's what happened.

Stipe I want to thank you for coming out and talking to sherdog and enjoy your bag wink wink

 

[Koya]

The worst part is he's being shit on to enhance the Jon vs Aspinall narrative.

People saying he only showed up for a payday and stuff like that, it's just disrespectful.

He looked to be in great shape, he still had that classic poker face and durability, imagine your last two fights were Ngannou and Jon freaking Jones and people act like you suck because you lost to them.

People say that because it's the truth. He had no business in there. Looked like a senior citizen who had been taking boxing lessons for 5 years. He absol only showed up for the payday and make us lose 2 years of meaningful fights.

 

[g*r*b]

Stipe I want to thank you for coming out and talking to sherdog and enjoy your bag wink wink

Har-dee-har. You can check his last Instagram post for his own words, you don't need linguistic analysis to tell we're not the same. But enjoy your cynicism.

 

[Fedorgasm]

He is a pro firefighter now, not a pro people fighter.

After that performance my money's on the fire

 

[Joshua8531]

Shouldn't feel bad for him.. most of his losses , many people make excuses for them. Against dc they said it didnt count because of the eyepoke and he was supposedly too old vs Francis and Jon .He's called the ufc heavyweight goat for beating up old and washed up fighters, Francis that was being coached by lopez and dc after dc had back surgery. If anyone else had this resume people would be questioning them but Stipe gets the benefit of the doubt. People also frequently talk about dc eye poking him in the first fight but conveniently leave out the fact that dc was eye poked bad in the 3rd fight and fought most of that fight only being able to see out of one eye. Stipe also had a huge reach and height advantage over dc. Part of the reason Stipe was mentioned as the ufc heavyweight goat is because he set the record for title defenses but look at who he fought. Two of his three title defenses were against worn and torn JDS and Overeem.

Well you clearly are letting your bias distort your reality from actual historical facts.

 

[moongaze]

Well you clearly are letting your bias distort your reality from actual historical facts.

What did I say that showed bias? Everything I said is factual.

 

[Bork Neslar]

He was already retired. He shouldn't have fought dirty cheater Jones. What Jones and Dana White did was disgraceful.

 

[amok attitude]

I always liked Stipe but i dont feel bad for him AT ALL. the shot was undeserved, his performance was mediocre at best and in fact he left the sport for years now. You cannot expect much, when you dont give much. I feel bad for aspinal on the contrary.

 

[nonoob]

He’s had a great career. He’s lived an incredible life9. No reason to feel sorry for him because he lost at 42

Stipe summed it up well - his 1st fight was in a bowling alley, his last fight sold out MSG.

CLASS ACT - Start to Finish !

 

[textwarrior]

Dude is one of the greatest heavyweights ever but he has a rough couple of years.

Was openly disrespected in the first Francis fight. Won that, thank God, but that was probably his peak and he started to fall.
Got KOed by DC after an eye poke. I love DC and glad he became champion but had to hurt.
Was swept aside for Brock when he deserved an instant rematch. Thankfully, Cormier vs Brock never happened.
Stipe got his rematch and won. Won the trilogy but dude looked way different and clearly past his prime.
Got brutalized by Francis. You could see his frustration and he kinda knew he was fucked after the first round.
Was once against swept aside for years. He did not deserve an instant rematch but UFC forgot that he existed.
Was basically dragged out of retirement for Jon Jones.
Got brutally KOed and retired.
Did not even get a video package when Carla Fucking whatsherface was given a tribute by the UFC.


I fully believe Prime Stipe would have given Jones a much tougher fight. Seeing him in the cage last fight was painful as I've been following him since the Fabio mauling. . Pity because he is truly a super nice guy, a role model and a hero even outside the cage. Been a rough couple of years but he is still the UFC HW Goat.

most MMA layman fans know what a 42 year old man is in MMA! ...its comical to watch the media spin it like it was so important in beating this old man....what a goat...oh wow...Glad Stipe got his pay day...but, fans can believe in the hype or enemies can hate the hype...either way...its just a fight and they are both old really...JJ just being smart as he exists if you want to know the truth...he just being real smart trying to make some money...JJ was on his way out in LHW when Reyes was so close...as those few other fights were at the end...he took a long time off...came back...picks his fights...and just wants to make as much money,....its ok im not mad...he is human like us all...he just wants to survive as long as he can..with his name.,,money money

 

[krelianx]

He seems like a good dude, but coming back just for a payday looking like dinosaur made me more angry than sad for wasting my time.

 

[Pem123]

I agree with the premise of this thread, but whats TS problem with Carla Ezparsa, LOL.

 

[orca]

hes the GOAT HW
stipe > fedor
quality vs quantity

the versions of the fighter stipe fought is more skilled and is much harder
than guys like nog and cro cop

fans always disrespect stipe

 

[Señor Dudu Bird]

Don't feel too bad. He had to know his body doesn't work the same anymore. Time to move on.