EXCLUSIVE | Matt Brown explains why Diego Sanchez should consider retiring too

This weekend, on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Norfolk, Virginia, welterweight fan favorite Matt Brown will partake in the final fight of his long career. His dance partner for this swan song will be Diego Sanchez, a fighter of a similar vintage.

Given that Sanchez has also been fighting for many years, Brown believes it might be time for him to retire too.

“Yeah, I think so,” Brown said of Sanchez’s retirement on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “It seems from the outside looking in that it’s probably his time. I don’t see him ever going on a championship run again so, to me that’s what it’s about. I don’t see the reason to be risking life and limb out there, especially when I have a family and everything. You know, if you’re not pushing to be the best in the world, and I think Diego is sort of in that situation where he’s really just fighting to fight really or, you know, sort of like a normal person lives pay check to pay check they’re living fight to fight you know. To me, that’s not a healthy thing and especially when you get older and you get into the age where things are slowing down and you have a higher risk potential, and at least for myself, I’m smart enough to do other things. I don’t have to just be a fighter, I have a good head on my shoulders, I’m an intelligent person, so there’s no reason for me to do the most dangerous thing I could possibly do.”

Brown, currently 20-16, has partaken in 36 professional fights. Sanchez, meanwhile, is 27-10 overall, having fought a whopping 37 times.

Do you think Diego Sanchez would be wise to follow in Matt Brown’s footsteps and hang up the gloves?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/11/2017.