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Darren Elkins feels 'relief' after retirement during UFC Vegas 120: "This is a young man's game"

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Darren Elkins feels 'relief' after retirement during UFC Vegas 120: "This is a young man's game"

Darren Elkins said goodbye to pro MMA competition during UFC Vegas 120, and he is relieved.

The retirement fight this past Saturday inside the Meta Apex didn't last long. Yadier del Valle struck early and his aggression paid off with a first-round TKO in 35 seconds. During the post-fight press conference, “The Damage†admitted that he feels he held onto his prizefighting run longer than it needed to go (h/t MMAMania.com).

“I'm feeling a little bit of relief,†Elkins said. “I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life. This is a young man's game. I knew that. I stuck around for probably a little bit longer than I should've, but I loved it so much. I was like, ‘We'll do a little bit more.' So do I regret it? No. Should I probably [have] retired? Probably a little bit sooner. Maybe after [the] Daniel Pineda one would've been kinda cool, but it I got greedy.â€

Elkins also shared his gratitude for the opportunities he received under the UFC banner, and he took pride in never rocking the boat with the higherups.

“Those guys, I've always got along with everybody at the UFC. I'm a guy, they know I'm gonna show up. I'm gonna clock in. I'm gonna give everything I have. I'm gonna make weight. I'm gonna be on time. I'm not gonna complain. I never complained.â€

Elkins suffered back-to-back first-round losses to end his 42-fight career. Throughout his run, Elkins faced some notable names, such as reigning UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski, Chad Mendes, and Jeremy Stephens.

Perhaps the most memorable moment in Elkins' career occurred at UFC 209 back in 2017. “The Damage†scored a stunning come-from-behind victory over Mirsad Bektić, who was undefeated going into the bout. Elkins' memorable effort earned him a “Performance of the Night†bonus.

Share your thoughts on Darren Elkins' retirement below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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MMA

Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jacksons $7 million claim

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Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jackson's $7 million claim
Paulo
Costa has renewed his criticism of fighter pay in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A resurfaced clip shows UFC middleweight champion Sean
Strickland asking former light heavyweight champion Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson about his biggest UFC payday. Jackson said he
earned $7 million, including pay-per-view compensation, for
fighting Chuck
Liddell. Costa contrasted that figure with his estimate of what
a current UFC fighter earns.

Paulo Costa compares Rampage Jackson’s claimed $7 million
payday with estimated Raoni Barcelos earnings

Jackson attributed the payday to a contract he signed with World
Fighting Alliance, where he said his manager also had a promotional
role. According to Jackson, the deal included lucrative
pay-per-view terms that the UFC inherited when its parent company
acquired WFA assets in December 2006.

“$7 million, Chuck Liddell, that was pay-per-view, though,†Jackson
told Strickland. “I left
Pride. My manager, he became like the manager of the show. So,
he knew exactly that it was his biggest deal. They didn't want to
have pay-per-view, so he gave me a crazy pay-per-view deal. Then
Dana White bought WFA and had to honor my pay-per-view deal.â€

Costa compared Jackson's account with Raoni
Barcelos' stoppage loss to Raul Rosas
Jr. last month. Barcelos, 39, lost consciousness during a
fifth-round grappling exchange. Costa speculated that Barcelos
earned between $80,000 and $100,000, contrasting that estimate with
Jackson's claimed earnings from his 2007 victory over Liddell.

“UFC paid Rampage 7 million to fight Chuck what is comprehensive,â€
Costa wrote on X. “Not comparing fighters relevance but comparing
it with Barcelos x Rosas Jr 5 rds and had serious injuries on brain
damage, made 80k~100k ?? Raoni Barcelos is around 40s and probably
retired due to that injury.â€

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MMA

Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton

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Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship's recent visit to Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, featured action inside and outside the
Octagon.

Police intervene in Rogers Place crowd altercation during UFC
Edmonton

Every bout at
UFC Edmonton except the co-main event ended in a finish. But a
crowd altercation at Rogers Place on Oct. 17 also drew
attention.

Video circulating on social media appears to show a police officer
lifting a man and slamming him to the floor as officers intervene
in the altercation. The man appears to lose consciousness after the
impact.

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MMA

GFL announces new signings for December relaunch in Argentina

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GFL announces new signings for December relaunch in Argentina

The Global Fight League is expected to relaunch in December and the organization has announced its opening roster of fighters for the Buenos Aires Gauchos team.

This past weekend, the GFL announced it will hold its inaugural event on Dec. 18 at Club Atletico Lanus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the Gauchos taking on fighters from the Miami Monsters. Now, the league has begun to name the fighters who will compete for the Gauchos, which you can see in the list below.

Middleweight: Dante Romero (9-8)

Welterweight: Matias Ponce (12-5, 1 NC)

Lightweight: Franco Rios (4-0)

Lightweight: Thomas Juarez (6-2)

Featherweight: Lionel Abojer (12-4)

Featherweight: Eduardo Cajal (9-5)

Bantamweight: Ryan Martinez (9-1)

Flyweight: Nicolas Rodriguez (9-3)

More fighters are expected to be announced, including the roster for the Monsters.

Former UFC title contender and longtime MMA veteran Marlon Moraes was recently added to the Miami roster, but MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz has learned from sources with knowledge of the event that Moraes will not be competing on the Dec. 18 card.

It is not yet known exactly how the team vs. team format will work, but the league has shared its scoring system for future events:

The GFL made headlines in 2025 with lofty promises in regards to athlete compensation and the signing of numerous MMA stars and veterans including , including former UFC champions Tyron Woodley, Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, Anthony Pettis, and Holly Holm, but has failed to produce an event thus far. Initially, the league was supposed to hold a pair of shows on May 24 and May 25 in 2025, only for those events to be later cancelled.

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