It’s the end of the road for Paul Craig.
The UFC Light Heavyweight walked into the octagon on Saturday hoping to snap a four-fight skid but Craig ended up taking a KO loss to Modestas Bukauskas via an elbow. The 37-year-old cut an emotional promo following his bout, and left his gloves in the ring for an emotional sendoff.
“Guys, thank you so much for the memories, this is why I do this, but this sport, the young eat the old and I’m old, thank you for the memories,” Craig said in his Octagon interview.
Unfortunately for Craig, father time just got the best of him. While Craig was never a champion, he could be counted on to always deliver an entertaining fight. The Light Heavyweight made his MMA debut in 2013.
After winning the BAMMA Light Heavyweight Championship, Craig signed to the UFC and made his debut undefeated. The UFC fighter won his debut match against Henrique da Silva, but his undefeated streak was shattered in his second bout against Tyson Pedro.
Since then, Craig’s record has been up and down throughout his time in the UFC. There was a good period where Craig was on a hot streak as the light heavyweight got four consecutive wins over Vinicius Moreira, Gadzhimurad Antigulov, Maurício Rua, Jamahal Hill, and Nikita Krylov.
However, once that streak was broken by Volkan Oezdemir, then it all went downhill for Craig. There was a point where he wanted to retire by his 35th birthday, but he opted to stay in the octagon as he felt that he still had more to show as a fighter.
Days before his latest plan, Craig was talking about finally getting a crack at the light heavyweight title and detailed his plans to get to number one during the media scrum heading into UFC Paris.
“I have, I believe, I have a queue jump pass just waiting in my back pocket, and I’m just going to produce it after a few victories in the light heavyweight division,” Craig said during the UFC Paris media day. “I left the light heavyweight division as a number nine ranked opponent and went to middleweight. It didn’t work out for me, but I’m expecting a couple of wins, get back in that top 10, use that queue skip with a victory over Ankalev, and get myself right in that title contention.
“Ideal situation for me would be that. But we know this sport is has its ups and downs. But ultimately, that’s what I’m looking for. The ability to be a world champion that steps in the octagon wants to have a bit of gold around their waist.”
Paul Craig ends his career with 17 wins, 10 losses, and 1 draw. Here’s wishing the best to the retired fighter in his future endeavors.