PFL 1 2022: Stevie Ray Recalls “Emotional Decision” to Retire After UFC Run Soured

Arlington, TX — Stevie Ray hasn’t competed in mixed martial arts since 2019, but that dry spell will finally come to an end at PFL 1 on Wednesday.

“Just f*cking buzzing to be back, man,” Ray (23-9) said ahead of the event, at Monday’s media day. “It’s been a long layoff. Just buzzing to be back in.”

Ray, a former Cage Warriors tournament winner and lightweight champion, got off to a good start when he moved to the UFC in 2015. Right out of the gate, he won his first three fights, finishing two of those opponents.

He’d have some ups and downs after that, but when he fought and defeated Michael Johnson in October 2019, it was a co-main event spot. Yet somehow, his run with the promotion derailed just as he was hitting the next level.

“It’s a complicated situation, the whole, everything that happened,” Ray told media outlets including Cageside Press. “I signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC after I fought Michael Johnson. Then my manager, Ali, was telling me that the UFC wanted to get rid of me or something. To be honest, even I’m still a little bit confused about all that.”

On top of the UFC apparently souring on him, Ray was dealing with a nagging injury. “My knee wasn’t great back then. I had the knee issue even before the Michael Johnson fight. I then got matched with Marc Diakiese, had to pull out. There was talks about maybe going as a free agent, and going elsewhere. So that was the plan. I didn’t really want to, then eventually decided to go as a free agent. Then COVID hit, it was pretty hard to get a fight, sign with a new company.”

Two and a half years later, Ray has arrived with the PFL. For a while, however, the Scottish fighter was officially retired, although he admits that decision was spurred on by the circumstances surrounding his UFC exit.

“I wouldn’t say I was wanting to retire at all. It was an emotional decision, I was just kind of like ‘f*ck this sport, I’m done’ because of what happened with the UFC,” he admitted. “And now I’m back.”

While Ray was emotionally retired, within days, he didn’t know what to do with himself. Eventually, he found another outlet to feed his competitive urge. “I kept busy, since my last Johnson fight, the Paddy Pimblett [grappling] match was just before that, and then I went on Polaris against Craig Ewers, a high-level jiu-jitsu guy. I beat him. So I’ve still been able to stay active.” Just minus the punching part, Ray added.

When he returns to the cage this Wednesday at PFL 1, Stevie Ray will have a new format to take into consideration. One that rewards fighters for early stoppages.

“I’m going to try to knock him out from the moment I get in there now, because I know that, I’m sure if you win two fights by decision, it doesn’t mean you’re going to make it to the playoffs,” Ray said on that front. “It really depends on how the other fights go. So yeah, there’s that little bit of more encouragement.”

PFL 1 2022 goes down April 20, 2022 on ESPN and ESPN+, live from the ESports Stadium in Arlington, TX. Watch the full media scrum with Stevie Ray above.