At UFC 279, Nate Diaz’s farewell UFC match garnered all the eyeballs. Besides the main event, the co-main event had its own share of controversies. The MMA fans can define the UFC event in one word: Chaos. Khamzat Chimaev ended up facing Kevin Holland on a reshuffled fight card, and the American had a forgettable fight. As a surprise to everyone, the ‘Trailblazer’ announced his retirement from MMA after the fight.

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While many fans were in shock mode, others described the decision as premature. But soon in a sudden turn of events, UFC announced that Kevin Holland will headline the UFC Fight Night event in Orlando.

This sudden retraction from his retirement reminded combat sports fans of a similar coming-back-from-retirement story. The fans drew parallels with famous NFL star Tom Brady’s retirement.

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The famous Tom Brady retirement

Earlier this year, Tom Brady announced his retirement from the field and sent the NFL world in a state of shock. The NFL fans wanted to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback in the last hurrah. After a hard turmoil of 40 days, the NFL Gods smiled on the fans and Tom Brady took to Twitter to announce his comeback.

While NFL fans will eventually see the 7-time Super Bowl champion hang up his boots, but till that happens, the fans can still enjoy the NFL legend playing on the field.

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How did the fans react?

The ‘Big Mouth’ Kevin Holland had a terrible day in the Octagon. After the first round bell rang, Khamzat Chimaev appeared to approach Holland for a touch of gloves. However, this was just a deception. Chimaev on the pretext of touching gloves, attempted a takedown on the unguarded American fighter and the California-born couldn’t recover from that.

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What resulted was an embarrassing first-round loss for Kevin Holland and Chimaev won the fight without absorbing a significant strike.

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Read more: Joe Rogan Makes ‘Not Legal’ UFC Confession: “Even While I Was Commentating”

This loss thus prompted the 29-year-old to call quits on his MMA career. Surprisingly, fans now find him featuring in the main event of the December 4 Fight Night event in Orlando. The ‘Trailblazer’ will face Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in a welterweight division fight.

This is how the fans reacted.

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A user pointed out that this might be the shortest retirement in history.

Another user mentioned how it was a method to escape fighting wrestlers. He wrote, “Kevin should threaten to retire everytime they have him fight a wrestler. He’s just trying to do some Kung Fu.”

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An MMA fan reiterated, “That was the fastest return from retirement I’ve ever seen.”

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Another MMA fan joked about the usual human tendency to put things for a later day. Therefore, he commented, “MMA retirements are the equivalent of “I’ll start my diet on Monday”

A user wrote, “Kevin Holland retired more times then 50 year old Wonderboy did.”

Another user made the comparison between the MMA fighter and Tom Brady. Thus, he wrote, “The retire and return move in MMA gotta be the funniest cry for attention in sports. Brady even gave it a shot.”

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What do you think of this u-turn on retirement from MMA? Let us know in the comments below.

Watch This Story: Dana White once revealed his thoughts about Tom Brady

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Rohit Lohan

1,983 Articles

Rohit Lohan is a senior Boxing writer and analyst at EssentiallySports. With over 1000 articles to his credit, Rohit has scrupulously unraveled the complexities involved in the sport. Being a beacon of expertise in the world of combat sports, his strengths include statistical analysis and accurate fight predictions that have garnered significant praise. Rohit's daily columns featuring insights on Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, and Tyson Fury have earned him a loyal readership. Some of his noteworthy coverages include the creation of a highlight digest encapsulating the best fights of 2023, and Amanda Serrano's bold act of vacating her title in defiance of the WBC, to name a few. When away from ES Desk, he loves to read books. Rohit is also an avid Anime fan, 'One Piece' being his favorite show.

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Vineet Nandwana