UFC vet Chris Lytle re-evaluating, but not retiring, following loss

Chris Lytle's body finally caught up with his mind in the weeks leading to and during a fight with Brian Ebersole at UFC 127.

Lytle had the will to compete at the Feb 27 event. But an injured leg took the spring out of the his step, and he lost while on a push up the welterweight ladder that he previously said might be his last.

You certainly won't be seeing him in the cage anytime soon. But you will see him there again.

He's just trying to figure out how and when that's going to happen.

"I wanted to take a little time and re-evaluate what I'm doing with everything and how I feel – make sure I have a plan and (I'm) not just go out there and make any decision," Lytle (30-18-5 MMA, 9-10 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) about the fallout from his loss. "I'll plan it out and figure out what I want to do."

Lytle admited that hasn't exactly been his strong suit, at least when it comes to fighting. He said he never really recovered from a knee surgery he underwent in the summer of 2009, which forced him to withdraw from a scheduled bout with Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Night 19, and he got back into action way too early when he accepted a fight with Brian Foster at UFC 110 in February 2010. Then he took fights against Matt Brown and Matt Serra, both which he won, but his leg continued to get worse.

"Basically, I just had my meniscus removed," Lytle said. "It wasn't that it was real bad. I was just that I haven't been able to train like I want to. I haven't been able to do lots of things, and mobility wasn't 100 percent."

By the time Lytle got around to Ebersole, who stepped in when Condit couldn't make a do-over booking due to – wouldn't you know it – an injured knee, Lytle's injuries were getting worse. His body began to compensate for his knee, and he had injured his back, as well. He fought anyway and made it, barely, through three rounds with the longtime veteran before losing a unanimous decision.

But despite a temporary halt to his title run and thoughts afterward about retiring altogether from fighting, Lytle said he probably would make the same decision all over again.

"I'm not going to pick and choose my fights, and I always feel like I should be able to fight anybody, anytime, anywhere," he said. "If that's the fight that I have, I'm not going to say, 'No, I'm not fighting.' I'm not going to shy away from people because of anything.

"Unfortunately, I wish I was a little smarter about stuff, but I'm not."

Of course, Lytle's go-for-broke style has made him a favorite among UFC fans, and he's been rewarded handsomely by the promotion with eight performance bonuses in an octagon career going back to 2000. The difference is he now knows that he needs to make the most of his time, and that means a clean slate – starting with his health. He'd like to get back in the cage by summer. But he can't be sure of that, and he doesn't want to rush things.

"It depends on how my body reacts," Lytle said. "I'm just trying to go back into a lot of strength-and-conditioning time. ... I'm not sure how long it's going to take. I'm hoping a couple of months, and then I can get back in shape and plan for something."

For now, he'll just be a full-time firefighter and father of four in his native Indianapolis. And while he never again will have to prove how tough he is, he's not done trying to prove he's one of the best fighters in the world.

There will be a point at which he'll realize that's no longer a realistic goal. But that time hasn't arrived.

"As long as I have the will to do it and the physical ability to do it, I would like to," Lytle said. "If one of those things goes away, then I'm going to have to re-evaluate. I'm sure I'm going to miss things. I'm sure I'm going to have to come up with a way to be involved with things in a different aspect.

"I'm trying not to think about that right now. I look at it like this could be my last fight, and I've got to make it the best fight of my life."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/22893/ufc-vet-chris-lytle-re-evaluating-but-not-retiring-following-loss.mma


I've got loads of time for Lytle and really wish him nothing but good things for his future,a great pro that always puts on a show and he seems like a really grounded,good guy.
I wouldn't mind actually seeing him in the mix with the Strikeforce WW's,I think there would be some good fights for him over there.

I agree, i think Lytle is a great pro who always comes to fight, and was on a good run until that Ebersole fight. A few good victories and he'd have been looking towards a title shot maybe?

Hope to see him back in the soon.

Really wish we got to see him and Condit fight in Australia.

I love watching the guy fight,and would love to see him come back fresh and right back on track,but I would hate to see him come back and continue giving us performances like his last one and fight on for to long,like many other fighters do.

He just didn't look right in his last fight,he was sucking wind by the end of the first rd and one thing we know about Lytle,is that he usually has no problems going the distance.

I thought to be honest that he must of been struggling to acclimatize to fighting in OZ or he just didn't give Ebersole the respect he deserved and took his preparations a little to easy,but maybe it is purely down to age and the toll his body has took over his fighting career has just caught up with him.
If that's the case,I find it hard to see where he goes from here to be honest,that loss really knocked him back down the order and at 36 and needing a break from the sport to heel up,i think it will be hard for him to get back to where he was in the UFC,never mind any further,that's why I think it would be a good move if he could somehow switch to the strikeforce WW division.

Lytle vs Cyborg,Zaromskis,Masvidal etc are all winnable exciting fights,that could potentially put him in title contention before he called it a day.

Whether he keeps fighting or not he's got a great career ahead as a trainer. Great hands, great on the ground. Add a wrestling coach and a strategy guy and you've got a good set up.