It's rare to see a fighter leave MMA before the sport leaves them, but Jordan Mein has officially put himself in that category.
The talented Canadian striker has brought his days competing inside the cage to an end. While it is uncommon for a 25-year-old fighter to walk away from the sport, the Alberta native was no up-and-comer. "Young Gun" has been competing as a professional since the age of 14 and logged 39 fights over the course of his decade-long run—the final five of which came under the UFC banner.
Despite only finding success in two of those showings inside the Octagon, Mein was regarded as a game fighter and one of the more versatile strikers during his time competing in the highly competitive welterweight fold. And even though the future looked bright for the talented young Lethbridge-based fighter, he has decided to put down the four-ounce gloves and turn his attention to teaching MMA, as he told Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com:
I’m ready to transition to a different part of my life. I’ve been at this for 12 years, 10 years professionally, so I’m just ready to move on in my life.
I really got into teaching. I love martial arts, it’s just the competition side of it, staying at that high intensity and high level, and I’m going to a different aspect of life. I just don’t want to compete anymore at the highest level. I still love to compete in the gym, and I’m more into wanting to teach and maybe even going a different route and getting away from martial arts and doing something else. I don’t know yet.
Mein's announcement on Wednesday sent a jolt of surprise throughout the MMA community, but he's not the only fighter in his mid-20s to retire in the past seven days. New Jersey native Frankie Perez recently rode off into the sunset on a high note after notching a first-round TKO victory—the first UFC win of his career—against Sam Stout at Fight Night 74 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Just three days later Mein followed the same trend, and perhaps this signals an upswing in fighters getting out of combat sports well before brain cells and bodies reach a point from which they cannot bounce back.
Maybe that's wishful thinking, but Mein's decision to walk away before his body gives out is a bold and admirable move for the talented young Canadian.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
