'If I can't get the gold, I won't fight,' says emotional Manny Gamburyan after retirement announcement

SAO PAULO – On Saturday, after his 15th UFC fight, Manny Gamburyan made a surprising retirement announcement.

Gamburyan (15-10 MMA, 6-8 UFC), who’d told MMAjunkie earlier in the week that he wasn’t thinking about calling it quits yet, later said that the thought really hadn’t crossed his mind up until the TKO loss to Johnny Eduardo (27-10 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 100.

“I came to Brazil to get the ‘W,’” Gamburyan said. “My plan was never to get retired in the octagon, it’s just – when he hurt me, when he dropped me and I got up. At that point, I felt like, ‘If I can’t hang with these guys, what am I doing here?’ I can’t do it anymore, so I’d rather walk away.

“No one knew. You can ask my cornerman, he didn’t even know. No one knows about this. I decided right when I got up. I looked at the audience and I’m like, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t do it anymore.’ I feel like it’s coming short.”

The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 100 event at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. It aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Gamburyan, who was riding back-to-back wins before a knockout loss to John Dodson in April kicked off the current two-fight skid, says he was feeling great leading up to Saturday’s scrap, but that the years of training might have finally taken their toll.

“I had a great camp,” Gamburyan said. “I had an amazing camp and I was feeling ready. It’s just one of those days it just doesn’t go your way. But I feel it’s time for me to hang it up.

“I’m training, I’m doing good, it’s just my body, it’s just – not tired, it’s just, over the 20, 25 years of training. I started my career in 1991 and I’ve been fighting since 1997. My first MMA fight was when I was 16 years old.

“My body is just too hurt to go through training camps again and fight again. Fighting is my favorite thing in the world, besides my little (daughter) Angelina and my wife, but it gets hard.”

Although visibly emotional, the vet says he’s not likely to change his mind and hopes that maybe he can still keep his ties with the UFC.

“I love this sport and I’ve been honored to work for the UFC for 10 years,” Gamburyan said. “So if any way I can stay with the family and work for something for them, I’m OK with that. But as of right now, I don’t think I’m going to change my mindset. When I say it’s done, it’s pretty much done.”

Gamburyan, who came the closest to his shot at gold when he fought Jose Aldo for the WEC featherweight title in 2010, says he’s happy with what he’s been able to accomplish. But that, as it stands, he doesn’t see himself getting to what has always been his goal: the belt.

“I’m very much happy that I’ve accomplished a lot of stuff,” Gamburyan said. “Obviously I couldn’t get the gold, the belt around my waist, but I only fight for the belt.

“If I can’t get the gold, I won’t fight. I only fight for the gold, and I only fight for the ‘W.’ I’m not a sore loser. Johnny Eduardo was a better man tonight, and my goal is always to come to win, it doesn’t matter where I’m at.

“It could be in Brazil, it could be in Germany, it could be in my country, it doesn’t matter. If I can’t reach the gold, there’s no point for me to fight. And I feel like I can’t reach the gold. My body and my years of working and fighting, it’s not letting me get there anymore.”

For more on Gamburyan’s thoughts on retirement, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 100, check out the UFC Events section of the site.