David Taylor finally hung up his wrestling boots—or so we thought! “The Magic Man” originally retired after a tough Olympic Trials loss to Aaron Brooks, and he seemed set for a new life as Ohio State’s head coach. But wrestling has a way of pulling you back, and just months later, David shocked everyone by announcing his comeback for the World Championships. And he didn’t return just for a swan song—he came back with a mission: to face off against none other than Abdulrashid Sadulaev, the Russian powerhouse he’d been itching to take down since 2020.

The match? Let’s just say the magic was missing that day. Sadulaev dominated with a 7-0 win, leaving fans wondering if this return was worth it. But David Taylor wasn’t done yet; he battled his way to a bronze medal, clinching redemption with a win over former World Champ Kamran Ghasempour in his final bout.

Now, talking to Flo Wrestling, David Taylor revealed that he wanted to come back at the World Championship trials as he didn’t want his career to end with the embarrassing defeat against Aaron Brooks. While he wasn’t necessarily itching for a return to the mat, David wanted to end his glorious career on his own terms. However, what he really wanted was a shot at Abdulrashid Sadulaev. He finally wanted to fight the man who he had called out back in 2020.

But, unfortunately, the result didn’t go his way. However, David felt that had he fought the Russians with the same ferocity he brought against Kamran Ghasempour, he might have had a better shot. “I just wanted to have the chance to finish on my terms. So, you know, coming into this, knowing this is it, I was hyper-focused on wrestling Sadulaev. The game script of what I thought—the match went differently. I should have wrestled it like that match, you know, so I felt like this was a chance at redemption in this match,” he said.

David Taylor then went on to say that he felt tired and sore from the tournament after two very hectic matches. But he really enjoyed wrestling against Kamran, as he felt that he had controlled a lot of the fight on the mat. Taylor then explained that he never approached tournaments with any goal other than winning first place, so even though he didn’t win in this match, he valued the experience and the effort he put in. This match gave him a moment to push through exhaustion and “cowboy up,” wrestling exactly how he wanted for six minutes.

He said he felt that, “Of all the matches I wrestled, I felt like finally this year, first time this year, I had a lot of clarity there. A lot of really clear clarity of exactly what I was going to do and how I was going to wrestle. I was able to execute that.” Thus, the wrestler can now leave the mat with his head held high as his glorious career comes to an end. Now, he can fully concentrate on building an equally impressive CV in his coaching career.

David Taylor will now oversee Oklahoma State University to a probable NCAA title

As his wrestling career comes to an end, David Taylor must concentrate on coaching the OSU at the NCAA season, which is about to start very soon. Owing to this, many fans have been curious about the first lineup David is set to put out. When asked about it during a presser, he chose to be diplomatic about the whole thing, saying, “I think the lineup is pretty straightforward. There’s a few weight classes that are contested—probably a little more than others.”

David also admitted that ever since his start at OSU, he has had to handle a lot of things in the background. This might include bringing players fitness to the right level, as it was not up to the mark when he joined. But now David looks more in sync with his team after signing a few hugely talented prospects like Dean Hamiti and Caleb Fish.

Now, as the season is about to start, the wrestling legend has a message for all the wrestlers who will be competing for the college. He said, “Competition can bring the best out in you and sometimes bring not the best out in you, so we want guys that competition brings the best out in them.” It’s clear the Magic Man is diving headfirst into this new chapter, hoping to bring the same spark to coaching that made him a legend on the mat. Let’s see if he’s got a little more magic to work—this time from the sidelines!