Former UFC fighter admits he wasn’t the identical after Fight of the Night loss: ‘My head was destroyed’

Eric Spicely reflects on winning a bonus after contemplating giving up mid-UFC fight.

Last month, Justin Gaethje earned $825,000 in post-fight bonuses in a single night by becoming the undisputed lightweight champion.

‘The Highlight’ has an incredible record for putting on entertaining fights but these financial rewards also can include a physical cost.

Gaethje should still be planning to fight again but not every competitor is capable of fully get well from a bout that gets fans out of their seats.

Should Justin Gaethje retire following his undisputed title win?🤔

On his third attempt, Justin Gaethje finally became the undisputed lightweight champion, pulling off one in every of the largest upsets in combat sports history👏🏼

Eric Spicely contemplated quitting in his final UFC fight with Deron Winn that negatively impacted his health

Eric Spicely was told he’d get cut from the UFC roster if he didn’t fight Thiago Santos in his second Octagon appearance.

While he won this fight and turned it into back-to-back wins, his first run with the promotion got here to an end in 2018 following three consecutive stoppage losses.

On just several days’ notice, the previous The Ultimate Fighter contestant received a late notice opportunity to make his return and face Deron Winn the next yr, but his lack of preparations hurt him.

“I rock him in the primary round,” Spicely reflected on The Shawn Johnson Podcast. “I just knee him within the face after which I didn’t finish him and I used to be like, ‘I don’t know if I can do that for 3 rounds. I believe I’m good. I believe I’m going to take the following punch and get out of here.’ That’s undergone every fighter’s mind.”

Winn was declared the winner via unanimous decision following quarter-hour of the 2 grappling specialists standing and trading.

While each men earned an extra $50,000 for putting on the Fight of the Night, Spicely admits that he wasn’t the identical after this bout.

“I got a bonus however it f—– my life up, dude. My head was destroyed after that,” he added. “I got hit in the pinnacle 180 times. I hit him in the pinnacle 110 times. Just the pinnacle, other shots were landed on the body but just the brain. I didn’t get dropped, he didn’t get dropped and it modified his profession, I’m sure. I believe he’s doing bare-knuckle now but he wasn’t that rather more successful within the UFC after.”

In 2020, Spicely said he was taking antidepressants in consequence of the damage he took on this fight, which negatively impacted his weight cut.

He was forced to withdraw from a matchup with Markus Perez as a consequence of health issues that then led to him being cut from the UFC for a second time.

As he said in the course of the podcast, his former opponent, Winn, recently made his BKFC debut while Spicely has transitioned to being a humorist.