LAS VEGAS – Matt Schnell probably has a lot of emotion riding on his fight this week.
For starters, Schnell (17-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC) was supposed to fight Alessandro Costa (15-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in a flyweight bout in September 2024. But Costa pulled out of the fight, and Schnell fought Cody Durden, instead, on short notice.
The result was a submission loss early in the second round, and Schnell isn't at all thrilled about what went down in the minutes afterward. He took his gloves off and left them in the center of the cage – the universal-ish combat sports sign a fighter has decided to retire.
But Schnell was back a half-year later like nothing ever happened with the whole glove thing. Looking back on the glove laydown situation, the 36-year-old probably would've done something different.
"I think I just pitched a fit there in that moment, and I also thought the UFC was going to cut me," Schnell told MMA Junkie and other media members Wednesday ahead of UFC Fight Night 278. "Hunter (Campbell) met me in the back, and I've got a great relationship with Mick Maynard, but I don't want to leverage that type of thing. I thought it might be my last one, so I figured get ahead of it a little bit and just retire. (Then I could say) I didn't get cut – I retired.
For starters, Schnell (17-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC) was supposed to fight Alessandro Costa (15-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in a flyweight bout in September 2024. But Costa pulled out of the fight, and Schnell fought Cody Durden, instead, on short notice.
The result was a submission loss early in the second round, and Schnell isn't at all thrilled about what went down in the minutes afterward. He took his gloves off and left them in the center of the cage – the universal-ish combat sports sign a fighter has decided to retire.
But Schnell was back a half-year later like nothing ever happened with the whole glove thing. Looking back on the glove laydown situation, the 36-year-old probably would've done something different.
"I think I just pitched a fit there in that moment, and I also thought the UFC was going to cut me," Schnell told MMA Junkie and other media members Wednesday ahead of UFC Fight Night 278. "Hunter (Campbell) met me in the back, and I've got a great relationship with Mick Maynard, but I don't want to leverage that type of thing. I thought it might be my last one, so I figured get ahead of it a little bit and just retire. (Then I could say) I didn't get cut – I retired.
3 months ago
