John Cholish Retires Following UFC on FX 8
John Cholish on Saturday announced his retirement from fighting… before he stepped into the Octagon to fight Gleison Tibau.
“Looking forward to my last fight today, Win, Lose, or Draw,” he wrote on Twitter. “I'll do my best to put on a strong performance and of course be Having Fun!”
That may seem a little odd for a 29-year-old with an 8-3 record (following a loss to Tibau at UFC on FX 8 in Brazil), but Cholish has always stood out in the MMA world as much for his “day job” as he did for his competitive fire in the Octagon.
A graduate of Cornell University, Cholish’s day job is on Wall Street in the financial industry. He’s worked for the likes of Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, and attacks his job with the same passion that he always brought into the Octagon.
A standout on the Cornell wrestling team, for Cholish, MMA was the next logical step as a competitive outlet for his athletic side of him that Wall Street couldn’t fulfill.
Before he ever entered the Octagon, he told MMAWeekly.com that he intended to keep both careers going at full steam, at least for a couple years.
“I’m only 26 and I think I can burn the candle at both ends, at least for a couple more years. I don’t think there’s any reason to be lazy about it,” Cholish told MMAWeekly.com in 2010. “As long as I can be successful here, keep doing my job, and then train at night, I think I can keep both things going.”
Now, three years later, he’s gotten to a level were keeping up both is maybe just a little too much. He’s not at the top end of the pay scale, banking pay-per-view bonus bucks, and Wall Street still pays the bills quite nicely.
So for John Cholish, it’s back to the financial sector.
“Had fun tonight, wish I could have done better,” he added on Twitter following the fight. “Hats off to @TibauATT on great job & Brazilian fans were incredible!”
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