Focus Back on Family for Recently Retired MMA Fighter Tim Chemelli

In a sport like mixed martial arts where a certain level of selfishness is simply part of the game, it's hard to stay hungry when you're in another place subconsciously. Some mixed martial artists attempt to balance their lives as fighters and family men, but there comes a day when the two can no longer coexist and a difficult decision has to be made.

Dedicating eight years to a professional MMA career, Tim Chemelli saw the end coming but wasn't quick to accept it and what resulted was a mental conflict determining the foreseeable future.

"It was the hardest thing ever," says Chemelli. "I know they say it's easier said than done, but for me it was harder said than done. My last few fights I was still competing. Should I have been? Probably not, but telling myself that I shouldn't be competing was hard. I was always [internally] arguing 'I can do this, I still got one more in me' and I came to the realization that I just don't have it no more."

Sure, he'd tried to retire before. After a controversial loss to Huntington Beach, California, MMA journeyman Tony Lopez, Chemelli tried walking away from the sport but the desire to make amends for how things played out against Lopez consumed him, and before he knew it he was back in the gym training for his last fight once again.

"That was supposed to be it for me going into that fight, win or lose," says Chemelli. "I was content with that too but it just stewed, how it ended, and it bothered me. I've got a lot of pride, I'm not gonna deny that, if I were to have lost fair and square, I could have totally walked away."

But he didn't and the final realization came on the night of June 12, 2015 when Chemelli entered the cage for one last time in front his home crowd in Cold Lake, a rural northeastern Alberta town with deep roots in the oil industry. The event, King of the Cage: Mach 3, pitted the 33-year-old light heavyweight against Edmonton, Alberta's Jared McComb in the main fight of the evening. What ensued was not a storybook ending.

It took McComb just over two minutes to finish the fight on the ground, sinking in a deep rear-naked choke after finding Chemelli's back. It's not the happy homecoming he'd wanted for his professional fighting finale, and even though he could continue searching for that elusive last victory, he simply doesn't have it in him anymore.

"I don't even think I realize it but I'm thinking more about if I get hurt, I can't support my kids, I can't support my family," says Chemelli. "I just don't think the drive or killer instinct is there anymore. I still love the sport, I just know that I can't compete in it anymore."

After the fight, he went to a local pub with his wife, sister, manager and a pair of friends with everyone seated knowing just how important MMA is in Chemelli's life. It came with the inevitable highs and lows of any professional sport, but it was still an unforgettable ride—one he wouldn't change for the world even though all those battles had finally caught up to him.

"Even my manager told me it's time. He knows it's time and I know it's time, everybody knows it's time," says Chemelli. "You can't keep going forever. I was honestly turning into a stepping stone, that's what I was turning into. I don't want that."

It's become an all-too-common sight in the sport to see fighters compete past their expiry date. What that date is in actuality is not for spectators to determine, and the moment rushes in without much notice. As agonizing as it was for Chemelli to accept his fate in professional MMA, it was ultimately a decision that will allow him to spend more time with his family and get out before the impending damage would really start costing him precious moments with his wife and two young children.

In a sport where a 41-year-old Kimbo Slice knocked out 51-year-old Ken Shamrock in St. Louis last Friday, Chemelli's bravery should be commended in being able to accept the cards dealt to him. The decision to walk away became easier when he discovered what was most important to him.

"[My son's] not gonna remember how many fights I won, how many fights I lost, he's gonna remember the sleepovers we had. [My daughter's] gonna remember me letting her paint my toenails," says Chemelli with a chuckle.

"That's what matters, but it just took me a little longer to realize that."