Chris Lytle insists his post-UFC on Versus 5 retirement is permanent

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Far too often, fan have seen a professional athlete walk away from their sport, only to come out of retirement down the line. At times these athletes are successful upon their return, but often they aren't near where they were prior to leaving in the first place.

But the UFC's Chris Lytle insists that won't be him, and says his decision to retire following his UFC on Versus 5 bout is a permanent one.

"I didn't want to go out because I had to go out," Lytle said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "I didn't want that to be me.

"I'm not going to change my mind about retiring. It wasn't really a question in my mind [to begin with]. I'm fortunate to be in a situation where I'm not in dire need to support myself and my family. If I were, it'd be a different situation. But thankfully, I'm not."

Lytle's decision came to him earlier this year when a knee injury kept him out of the gym and allowed him time at home. When he recovered and got back into the gym, his passion for it had left him. Lytle does admit, however, that without that time at home due to injury, he may not have realized what he was missing at home.

"This is not the kind of sport [to compete in] if you don't want to be there," he said. "I felt like I was starting to slip, so I knew I had one more in me, and that was it."

"I would have never really had the time away [from the gym] to pick up on what all I was missing back at home [had I not had the injury]."

While he's come to the end of his road, he was able to do so in spectacular fashion, taking out Dan Hardy by submission and earning two extra bonuses for his efforts.

"It's exactly what I wanted for my last fight," he said. "I couldn't have asked for a better night than that."

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Penick's Analysis: I think Lytle's retirement will stick. He's done all that's too be done with his career, and he's been handsomely rewarded for the efforts he put forth throughout his UFC run. Going out on top as he did is the way to finish, and as he's going out on his own terms, and for the reasons he's doing so, he won't make a return. He's riding off in excellent fashion, and he has nothing left to prove.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_10165.shtml

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