Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson Send Heartfelt Messages After Emotional Double Retirement by Ed Herman & Zak Cummings at UFC Kansas City

Zak Cummings and Ed Herman fought against each other at UFC on ESPN 44, and following the fight, the most unexpected things took place. Both fighters left their gloves in the octagon and put an end to their years-long fighting careers. From the bout between the two, it was evident that Cummings was dominating, and in the third round, Cummings emerged victorious by a powerful knockout. In Kansas City, both fighters locked horns in the light heavyweight division. After the announcement of their retirement, both of them got to talk their hearts out. 38-year-old Cummings has already mentioned in his interviews before the bout that it would be his last time in the cage.

Soon after Cummings announced his retirement, the 42-year-old Herman also declared that he was calling it a career. Herman stepped into the UFC through Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter. After the retirement speech, both the fighters hugged each other and expressed their respect for each other, making the crowd emotional. Many MMA fighters reacted to the double retirement and congratulated the fighters on their glorious fighting careers. The list of MMA fighters includes UFC superstar Conor McGregor and the former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion, Tony Ferguson.

The words of appreciation from Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson

UFC uploaded the emotional video of both fighters leaving their gloves in the cage and hugging each other tightly. In the video, they congratulated the two fighters on their great careers. After coming across the footage, the UFC two-division champion, Conor McGregor, commented, “Congrats lads, well done!“. Followed by the Irishman, Ferguson commented, “-CSO- #TUF (gold medal emoji) Guys“. Kansas is Cummings homeland, hence, he wanted to put an end to 16 years of his fighting career after his bout in the city. The bout was special for the American fighter in a lot of ways. By winning against Herman, Cummings became the seventeenth fighter to achieve victories in three weight divisions in the promotion.

The comments of both fighters proved that they hold great respect for the UFC veterans.

The emotional speech of the UFC veterans

During the retirement speech, Cummings said, “Thank you so much for all the support. I started this pro career in Missouri. I fought here six years ago when the UFC came to Missouri, to Kansas City the first time. Six years later to the day I get to do it again and guys, you showed out, thank you so much for the support. I love you guys, I cannot be more grateful.”

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Herman, too, is a veteran of the promotion. He joined the UFC in 2006 as a middleweight and later moved up to light heavyweight in 2016. Following Cummings’ speech, Herman said, “Thank you so much for all the great years. It’s been a hell of a career and I think I’m going to hang them up here in this cage in Kansas City.” The emotional speech from both veteran UFC fighters moved the MMA world.

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