Changes In Talking Fighters Out Of Retirement

[shawn michaels]

The name is pretty self explanatory. There should be more we can do when their answer is outright "No." Very rarely in real life does a fighter ever refuses to comeback. Mostly for money, let's face it, but there are sometimes other reasons and there should be several incentives available to at least try and persuade them. And maybe if we failed at some point in time, maybe later we could eventually convince them. And convince them again after their next retirement. (Depending on their personalities and goals.) It is very often that we see fighters "overstaying their welcome" (hello Dan Severn, still fighting at sixty years old, or Ken Shamrock at 54...and so on.) and even those who retired before they were dragging themselves to the cage, like the two cases mentioned before, end up returning. (Liddell as an example out of the top of my head.) Then there are others who have returned multiple times, like Tito Ortiz. I think he's on his 3rd comeback now?

 

So fighters could sometimes be the ones approaching us for a return. Either for a great fight they have in mind, one last run, or "monsters in the basement" like Rocky. Or for one last huge payday, or just to milk it as long as they physically can and make more money, which is always a good motivator.

 

All of this would obviously depend on their goals, personalities and of course, not everyone would be willing to drag themselves forever, some wouldn't even come back. But let's face it, most probably should overstay their welcome, (sometimes returning even on their own initiative) especially if a company with deep enough pockets for their needs comes calling.