Given that he’s still only 29-years-old, many people were surprised when Jalin Turner suggested he might be on the verge of retiring following his submission loss to Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 313 on Saturday night, including his fellow fighters, who have urged him to reconsider.
Turner, who has lost four of his last five fights, explained backstage after the fight that this wasn’t a sudden decision and he’s actually been having thoughts of retirement for a while.
“I was already entertaining the thought, retiring after UFC 300,” an emotional Turner told Sportsnet. “(I) took a little bit of time off, you know – kept training, just trying to get my mind right, just focus on like my mental health. It’s hard, man – fighting is hard. I’ve been doing it for 12 years, and you’ve either got to be all in or not. And even being in there now, I wasn’t fully all in as I thought I would be.
“The decision to stay or not was honestly based off this fight for me. I felt like I would get the nod, get the win. I’ve watched him. He’s an up-and-coming prospect. He deserved the opportunity, and I felt like I would get my hand raised and I didn’t.
“It’s emotional right now, but I’ve been thinking about this for the last 11 months if I’m going to keep fighting or not. I was battling signing the fight contract because I didn’t know if I was retiring or not, didn’t know how much longer I wanted to keep doing this. My kids are getting older. I don’t want to keep taking damage. Training camps are hard. Life has really taken its toll the past 11 months, so (I) just need to step away for a little bit, maybe forever.”
While Turner seems to feel it’s the right move for him, his fellow fighters have been rallying round to encourage him to keep going, including his opponent Bahamondes, who appeared genuinely concerned for ‘The Tarantula’ after the fight.
“The truth is that it broke my heart because he told me that he was going to retire, that he was thinking about retiring because it no longer felt the same way, and he just didn’t feel it in his heart to fight,” Bahamondes said at the UFC 313 post-fight press conference. “I told him not to do it. I told him to go back home and think about it well and check on his motivations, but to not retire. I also invited him to our gym. He can come and train whenever he wants, and we’ll help him.”
Former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns has also now spoken out both to support Turner in his decision, but also to suggest that perhaps it might be too soon for him to call it quits.
“Would love to take this moment to send and encourage all the fans and the community to send love and support to #JalinTurner,” Burns wrote on X. “Mental Health is serious! I still think you’re too young to retire but I hope you get the help you need, and comeback stronger. Jesus is the way!!“
Turner currently holds a 7-6 record in the UFC, and at his peak enjoyed a five-fight winning streak between 2020 and 2022. His last win was a knockout finish over Bobby Green back in December of 2023, which maintained his record of his finishing all 14 of his career wins inside the distance.
