Joseph Benavidez started fighting in 2006, and by 2010 was 12-1 heading into his first major title fight, a rematch with Dominick Cruz, for the WEC Bantamweight Championship; Benavidez lost a Split Decision. He won four in a row, and in 2010 fought Demetrious Johnson for the inaugural UFC flyweight championship; again, Benavidez lost a Split Decision. He won three more in row, and in 2013 got a rematch vs. Johnson, but was stopped in Round 1.

From 2014 to 2019, Benavidez had an incredible 9-1 run, losing a Split Decision to Sergio Pettis, but defeating Henry Cejudo, Tim Elliott, Dustin Ortiz (twice), and Jussier Formiga, among others. That earned him a fight in 2020 vs. Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight championship. But he was stopped with strikes in Round 1, and in the immediate rematch, was stopped via submission in Round 1.

At UFC 259, Benavidez lost a decision to Askar Askarov, and lost a Unanimous Decision. Today he’s 36, and in a conversation with his wife Megan Olivi on their At Home with Benalivi podcast, the fighter spoke openly about whether he’s still got it.

I just couldn’t find the adrenaline, the excitement and explosiveness, said Benavidez. It’s a tough realization because I feel like why couldn’t I find that? You come to this point I think in every sport that you just feel like you’re not the same person in there anymore. I’m not who maybe I used to be in there and I’ve had those thoughts a long time, you know, fighting for 15 years.

I’ve even had it in practice leading up to this sometimes, but practice is practice. Day in and day out, sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you have a bad day. But yeah, in the fight that’s how I felt. Some of the things that came so naturally to me like the scramble, like I’m mister scramble. And I see in the second round I got held down, and that was never a worry for me because taking me down is like taking yourself down – it’s pretty hard to hold me down. It wasn’t a thing.

I thought I could get out of that disappointment [from losing twice to Figueiredo), win, knock this guy off, and show I can compete at the top and have that rare opportunity to walk away on top, or at least still competing with the best, which I have always done in my career, Benavidez said.

I thought I could avoid that inevitable disappointment and just somehow get it. It’s just hard. Not that if I would’ve won or lost had anything decided as far as my future goes. You win and you still feel good. I never had a plan in mind. I wanted this year to have a fight or two, and we’ll see how it goes. It was just about having fun.

h/t Danny Segura for MMA Junkie