New Plan For Joseph Benavidez If He Has His Way
When one retires from something the amount of time on their hands usually comes as a surprise. But there’s a new plan for Joseph Benavidez if things play out right. Now that the smoke has cleared fully from a future Hall Of Fame career, the 21-months away has provided a new itch.
Benavidez’ career falls into a dubious group. Never winning a major title. And to say does someone that is 0-5 in title fights even deserving of the highest recognition, is valid. But sometimes the total is worth more than the parts. He just had a grit that got him to the top multiple times, just never over it.
And since Benavidez hung them up for good after dropping three-in a row, he has been somewhat busy. He’s worked some broadcasting, joining his wife Megan Olivi, and done some, in his words “odd and ends type stuff”. The one thing Benavidez hasn’t done since Askar Askarov took a unanimous decision over him might sound a bit strange for a life-long mixed martial artist.
“I haven’t done any real training since I called it a career. I just got tired of being punched in the face”.
New Plan For Joseph Benavidez Is Becoming Clearer In His Mind
He continued with:
“I have been thinking about doing some grappling stuff now. There’s a lot less physical abuse for the body, and it might be fun. Mind you; I’m not talking the major stuff like the ADCC, just small ones. And I prefer gi to no-gi anyways”.
When broached with the idea of rolling with newly retired Frankie Edgar at some catchweight, Benavidez replied:
“Sure, I think that might be fun. Frankie’s still a dog. I don’t know if he’d be up for it though”.
It would be interesting to see how Edgar would do as well, especially with his heavy wrestling base. And if that was to go down, there’d be a little bit of bragging rights. With “The Answer” being the king of New Jersey and Olivi being from New Jersey as well. But Benavidez remains close with everyone at both ALPHA MALE and XTREME COUTURE, so getting the mat time wouldn’t be a big issue.
Doing the grappling tournament/one-offs run seems to be a decent way for some fighters to remain active once they hang up the gloves. Perhaps more might follow that path. Which in the long run brings even more eyes to that end of the combat sports sphere.
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