Former UFC Title Challenger Teases Surprise Plan for Retirement Fight

This UFC veteran recently lost consecutive fights for the first time in his career.

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
Jul 21, 2023 6:54 PM EDT

UFC featherweight contender Josh Emmett has suggested he’s interested in moving up to the lightweight division for what could potentially be his final fight.

The 38-year-old is still the UFC’s #6-ranked featherweight, but he’s now dropped back-to-back fights for the first time in his fighting career after losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Ilia Topuria in June.

Emmett has called the featherweight division home since 2017, but a recent tweet indicates that he might like to close out his fighting career without having to subject himself to a difficult cut down to 145 pounds.

“I’m down to move back to lightweight for a fight! #RetirementFight” – Emmett wrote.

After being stopped in his first UFC main event against Jeremy Stephens in 2018, Emmett scored knockout wins over Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektić to kick off what eventually turned into a five-fight win streak.

That stretch of success put “CC0” into an interim featherweight title matchup with Yair Rodriguez in the co-main event of UFC 284, but the 38-year-old got caught in a triangle choke late in the second round and was forced to tap.

Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez at UFC 284. — Emmett fell short of claiming UFC gold against Rodriguez.
(Jasmine Frank/USA TODAY Sports)

Fans celebrated the incredible toughness that Emmett displayed in his last fight with the unbeaten Topuria, however the loaded featherweight division offers few opportunities for a step back in competition considering the Team Alpha Male product is still ranked in the division’s Top 10.

The lightweight division is arguably the most talent-rich weight class across all of MMA, but Emmett’s only loss in that division was a split decision against Des Green in 2017 that encouraged him to drop down to featherweight.

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