Jason Knight, a former UFC fighter and one of BKFC’s early stars, has announced his retirement following a loss at Friday’s Gamebred MMA 8.
Knight, 32, took to social media to announced the news. The Ultimate Fighter 31 alum (appearing on the show was an attempt at a return to the promotion he fought for between 2015 and 2018) noted that he had made a deal with God: either perform at his best and win, or he’d retire from the sport.
In the end, Knight lost a unanimous decision against Joshua Weems in the bareknuckle MMA scrap.
In his retirement announcement, Knight also indicated that his children had asked him to hang up the gloves.
“Well it didn’t go my way tonight unfortunately! Before the fight I made a deal with god. I told him if he wanted me to continue fighting then allow me to fight at my best and get this win, but if he didn’t want me to continue then to let my opponent win and I would happily retire!” wrote Knight. “This isn’t a decision that I’ve made lightly, it’s something I have contemplated for a while! All of my life I have fought just for the love of it! The last few years I have fought just for a paycheck. All three of my kids have asked me on separate occasions to stop fighting after seeing me come home with my battle scars! My answer was always, daddy has a little bit more he has to do! Well after 18 years of fighting I feel that I have done more than enough and I feel like there is a better way to pay my debt than to keep putting my body on the line!!”
“So with all of that being said I am at peace with my decision and to the ones who have supported me over the years, I love yall (sic) and appreciate you more than you will ever know! Big thanks to Gamebred FC, UFC, PFL MMA, Ultimate Fighter and everyone else who gave me all of the opportunities throughout the years! Good luck and god speed to [Joshua Weems] on the rest of your career! Deuces.”
Knight compiled a 4-5 record in the UFC, and became known as “Hick Diaz” over the years. His fan-friendly fight style gave him opportunities when the UFC door closed, and he jumped to BKFC in 2019, appearing in a Fight of the Year against Artem Lobov that April. Knight lost that first bout, but won an immediate rematch in November 2019. Despite the vast success of those fights, Knight did not compete for BKFC again, instead moving on to the PFL, Gamebred MMA, and TUF 31.
Jason Knight finishes his career with a 22-7 record in MMA, or 23-9 with custom rules bouts factored in.
