It was quite surprising to hear that Alan Jouban had decided that it was time to hang up the gloves. However he explained that this was something he had been considering for a while.
With 13 fights in the UFC, Jouban was a mainstay in the welterweight division. He went 8-5 in the promotion, but win or lose you knew that any time his name was on the marquee you were in for a good time.
Earlier this week, Alan announced his retirement from the sport, which came as a bit of the surprise for the most part. Of course, he’s not done with the sport completely, as he will seemingly continue his roles as a commentator and an analyst working the desk for various shows.
Alan Jouban Opens Up About Retiring
With him being something of a fan favorite, and the announcement of his retirement seeming to come out of nowhere, fans were wondering why Alan Jouban made the call. As much as it appeared to come out nowhere for us, he says that this is something he had been thinking about for a while.
Speaking in the recent interview, Alan explained that this was a decision he had been pondering over with his team for about 6 months. In fact, when he was training for his last fight, a decision victory over Jared Gooden in November, he knew that there was a possibility that this is going to be his final fight.
“It was kind of spur the moment Monday night, but to be honest it was the last 6 months that I thought about it,” Jouban explained.
“I went into that (Gooden) fight, very much with the mindset between me and my coaches that this could be the last fight… It was kind of an emotional camp. I knew that this could be the last time I do this, this campus grind, doing all this stuff. So I went through it expecting that look, win, lose, or draw, I don’t know what’s going to happen. If I get injured, and probably going to have to hang it up. If I lose, I don’t know where my mindset will be, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. So I want to make it my final run, as if this is the last time I’m going to do it.”
Jouban went on to say that he was fortunate enough to get the victory in the fight. Because of that, he initially had some reservations about calling it a career.
However Alan knew that in MMA it is hard to walk away with a victory. So after a ton of thought he decided, along with his team in his family, that the best thing he could do was retire while he still had one foot out the door.
“Something happened Monday. I went to my Muay Thai gym… And I was talking to my coach Julio about the fights last weekend, and he said something to me… I’ve been sugarcoating it before, I would say ‘I don’t know if I’m going to fight again. I don’t know if I have another one in me,’ And this time was different. I go ‘I’m done fighting,'” Jouban said.
“I caught myself, and I realized that was being honest with myself, and everyone else now. So I came home that night, and I texted my manager and I got his thoughts on it… and a couple of people around me, and they all kind of said if this is what you’re feeling in your heart then go for it. So I came and I sat outside, and I texted it, and I sent it.”
Alan Jouban went on to detail the immense outpouring of love that he experienced after making the announcement. He said it was as big as when you would win fights, as messages and social media posts would roll in with positive messages.
This amount of support surprised him, even to the point where Alan had to put his phone under his pillow in order to not hear a vibrate. The reason that this came as a shock to him, is because he was just trying to express how he was feeling, not having thought about what the response would be.
“This is how I’m feeling at my age, injuries, mindset, everything going on in life. I need to do this,” Jouban said.
At the end of the day, Alan Jouban had a crazy career full of highs and lows, leading to opportunities in the modeling world and as a desk analyst. In fact it was the latter of those that ultimately help him understand that it was time to hang it up.
Whatever he chooses to do next, we all wish him nothing but the best. While retirements in MMA seem to always have a way of not lasting long, this one seems different.
