Matt Hamill Returns To MMA, Faces Roger Hollet At UFC 152

Retiring from combat sports is a damned hard thing to do it seems. BJ Penn tried it, and it didn't take. Jens Pulver Should have done it by now, but he isn't. Chuck Liddell, Mirko CroCop and Ken Shamrock all stayed active well past there peak as well.

The latest fighter to come back from retirement is former (current?) UFC fighter Matt "The Hammer" Hamill. The 35 year old called it a day in August of 2011 following consecutive losses to Rampage Jackson and Alexander Gustafsson, with injuries also playing a part.

Speaking about his reasons for returning, Hamill's manager Duff Holmes revealed the following

"We talked about what happened. That fame that comes from being a UFC fighter, that's addictive, like a drug. When he retired, the big checks weren't rolling in. He wasn't on a pedestal. It's funny. There's really no difference in him. He was a UFC fighter and now he's a former UFC fighter, but people reacted to him differently. He wasn't being treated like a superstar and I think he missed that and wanted it back."

Hamill returns to the sport with a 10-4 record and notable victories over Mark Munoz, Keith Jardine, Tito Ortiz and Tim Boetsch. Hamill is also the only man to leave a mark on the record of current UFC champion Jon Jones. Hamill was battered in the fight, but scored a disqualification win when Jones used illegal 12-6 elbows.

To welcome Hamill back to the Octagon, the UFC have paired him up against promotional newcomer Roger Hollet at UFC 152, which goes down Saturday, September 22nd, 2012, in Toronto, Canada.

Roger "The Hulk" Hollet (13-3) is a former Bellator fighter who is riding a five fight win streak. This will mark the promotional debut for the Titan MMA fighter.


Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/matt-hammer-hamill-ends-retirement-fight-ufc-152-191259330--mma.html

Published by Lee Rabey - Sat, 4 Aug 2012 15:18