“Maybe It Wasn’t the Way I Wanted It to Be”: TUF 28 Winner Pens a Heartfelt Post Declaring His UFC Exit

Most MMA fans know about the unpredictable nature of the sport. From fighters sustaining severe injuries to untimely fight cancelations, a lot of them have been shocked by the capricious occurrences in this sport. Fighters retiring from the sport considerably early in their careers have also startled MMA fans numerous times in the past. However, with one more untimely retirement news coming up recently, it seems that these types of untoward incidents won’t stop bugging MMA fans anytime soon.

The known TUF 28 winning fighter, Juan Espino, provided UFC fans with a similar shock. On 21 April 2023, i.e. yesterday, ‘El Guapo’ took to his own Instagram account and revealed that he would be drawing the curtains to his UFC venture. The comments section of his post revealed that very few fans had expected such shocking news from the Spaniard.

Injuries force Juan Espino to retire after a mere 5-year career in the UFC

UFC signed Espino in 2018. However, his recent exit might give the fans an idea about the gruesome injuries he had taken in his comparatively brief career. They even forced ‘El Guapo’ to announce his retirement.

The 2-1 UFC record holder penned an unusually long caption to his Instagram post to declare his heartfelt exit from the promotion. A few lines from his caption revealing the reason behind his exit read, “The injuries don’t leave me any other choice. I want to thank all the people who supported me in this adventure to @ufc“

Espino’s retirement revelation also formed massive headlines. The news was covered by a number of noted MMA coverage houses, including ‘MMA Orbit’. The comments section of the tweet by ‘MMA Orbit’ was also full of heartfelt comments from the fans.

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Most of them respected his decision and wished him a happy retired life. But what exactly was the nature of the injuries that forced Espino to put an end to his fighting career?

Juan Espino’s hand injuries forced his hand

The 10-2 MMA record holder, Espino, had his last UFC bout on 17 April 2021 against Alexander Romanov. Post which he declared a time-out from fighting due to his injuries. Notably, the ’42-year-old’ suffered an injured right hand from his TUF 28 finale bout on November 2018.

Further reports also stated that Espino had another injury on one of his hands, which took a toll on his striking. On November 2019, ‘Espino’ had also talked to ‘MMA Junkie’ about getting the surgeries done. A year back, Espino had also revealed through one of his Instagram posts that he had “chronic epicondylitis in both elbows for more than a year”. Still, he had hoped for a return.

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He also stated that he was going through rehabilitation to gain back his hand movements. But the Spanish might have never been able to gain his previous fluidity in striking, ultimately forcing his retirement.

Well, there might be a lot of other injuries forcing his retirement as well. Whatever it is, we too would like to wish a happy retired life to ‘El Guapo’. Do you also have any messages for him?