Jon Jones praises longtime training partner Carlos Condit following retirement from MMA

UFC legend Jon Jones praised his longtime training partner Carlos Condit following his retirement from MMA earlier this week.

Jones and Condit have trained alongside each other at Team Jackson – Wink for over a decade. Earlier this week, “The Natural Born Killer” announced that he is stepping away from mixed martial arts at age 37 following a decision loss to Max Griffin in his last fight. While Condit was coming off of back-to-back wins over Matt Brown and Court McGee before that defeat, he stills believes that it is the right time to walk away from the sport now.

In the wake of Condit’s retirement announcement, a number of fighters have taken to social media to praise Condit following his retirement, and Jones was among them.

Jon Jones: Carlos, my brother, you have kicked lots of ass, won world titles, traveled the world, built excellent relationships, and have made lots of money. I will say your MMA career was a great success. Thank you for being an inspiration over the years. I respect you more than you will ever realize. I know you’re going to kill it in whatever it is you decide to do next. Always in your corner. #happyretirement

In response to what Jones wrote, Condit replied in the comments message on Instagram.

Carlos Condit: Thank you brother. It was an honor to train along side you and watch you become the GOAT. Best thing about this ride has been the friends made along the way.

It’s unfortunate that Condit is stepping away from MMA because he has been such a high-level, exciting fighter for so many years, but now that he’s far away from the top-15 of the UFC welterweight rankings, he believed it was the right time to retire. Based on messages from fighters such as Jones, it’s pretty evident how respected Condit is in the sport.