{"id":361359,"date":"2026-07-05T13:26:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T07:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=361359"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:26:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T07:56:38","slug":"former-ufc-fighter-admits-he-wasnt-the-identical-after-fight-of-the-night-loss-my-head-was-destroyed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/05\/former-ufc-fighter-admits-he-wasnt-the-identical-after-fight-of-the-night-loss-my-head-was-destroyed\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UFC fighter admits he wasn’t the identical after Fight of the Night loss: ‘My head was destroyed’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Follow us on Google Discover<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Eric Spicely reflects on winning a bonus after contemplating giving up mid-UFC fight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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\u2018The Highlight\u2019 has an incredible record for putting on entertaining fights but these financial rewards also can include a physical cost.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Should Justin Gaethje retire following his undisputed title win?\ud83e\udd14<\/h3>\n

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\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffc<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo by Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Eric Spicely contemplated quitting in his final UFC fight with Deron Winn that negatively impacted his health<\/h2>\n

Eric Spicely was told he\u2019d get cut from the UFC roster if he didn\u2019t fight Thiago Santos in his second Octagon appearance.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

On just several days\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rock him in the primary round,\u201d Spicely reflected on The Shawn Johnson Podcast. \u201cI just knee him within the face after which I didn\u2019t finish him and I used to be like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if I can do that for 3 rounds. I believe I\u2019m good. I believe I\u2019m going to take the following punch and get out of here.\u2019 That\u2019s undergone every fighter\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo by Josh Hedges\/Zuffa LLC\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Winn was declared the winner via unanimous decision following quarter-hour of the 2 grappling specialists standing and trading.<\/p>\n

While each men earned an extra $50,000 for putting on the Fight of the Night, Spicely admits that he wasn\u2019t the identical after this bout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a bonus however it f\u2014\u2013 my life up, dude. My head was destroyed after that,\u201d he added. \u201cI 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\u2019t get dropped, he didn\u2019t get dropped and it modified his profession, I\u2019m sure. I believe he\u2019s doing bare-knuckle now but he wasn\u2019t that rather more successful within the UFC after.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Follow us on Google Discover 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. \u2018The Highlight\u2019 has an incredible record for putting on entertaining fights but these financial rewards also can include […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":361360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[1504,17124,1253,2760,670,1134,3928,8989],"class_list":["post-361359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-admits","tag-destroyed","tag-fight","tag-fighter","tag-loss","tag-night","tag-ufc","tag-wasnt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t