“My kids are getting older, so they’re more important to me than any of this stuff,” the father of two boys said. “At the moment right now, I’m trying to get my money, build my legacy and try to set them up. But if I keep fighting, they’re going to mess around and graduate high school and I’ll miss their life.”
And having been around high-level athletes for most of his life, not just in the fight game but when he was a member of the University of Alabama’s football team, he knows just how hard it is to walk away. That knowledge is making his decision easier.
UFC 289 Full Fight Card Preview
“I just think the problem with athletes is that they never have an end time,” Anders said. “They fight and fight and fight. Look at Roy Jones Jr., for example. He probably would have been considered as the best boxer of all-time, but the guy’s 50-something years old and still fighting. I don’t want to say his record is tarnished, because I’m not trying to disrespect the guy; he is doing what he loved and it is what it is, but if he had retired 10 years ago, people would see and talk about Roy Jones Jr. in a different light.”
Anders wants to go out on his own terms. That means getting these five fights in, making it a nice and tidy 20 in the UFC, and then walking away.
You know what?
I think if there’s one fighter who can stick to that plan, it’s him.
