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Paul Craig last competed at UFC Fight Night Atlanta, fighting Rodolfo Bellato to a no contest following an illegal up kick from Craig to Bellato.
It turns out that the bout at UFC Fight Night Atlanta was the final one on Craig’s UFC contract and the fighter claims he will retire if a new contract isn’t offered to him.
"This was the last fight in my contract so, I've fought my five fights for that last contract," Craig said on the On Paper with Anthony Smith podcast (transcript via MMA Junkie). "And it's in the balance of like do UFC sign me? I'm coming off a few losses as a middleweight. I moved back to light heavyweight to re-energize myself my career. I don't believe I'm ready to retire from this sport. I believe there's still a lot of learning that I'm doing, and it's the training. If I'm training and doing the same stuff and getting beat up in training, and going into fights and doing the exact same stuff and getting beat up, then it's time for me to walk away.
"But I do believe I'm getting better. When I look at how much my striking improved against Bo Nickal, look at how my standup has improved over the years, that's where I'm working really hard. In jiu-jitsu as well, like I'm still learning. I'm still learning simple moves in jiu-jitsu which I'm able to add to my game, and as soon as that stops, then I'll walk away from this sport. But, it's not happening right now, and I would like to continue to fight for the UFC, but if they decide that it's not for me then they kind of force your hand, and then it would be game over for me. I would just walk away from the sport."
Craig holds a 9-9-1-1NC record in the UFC banner, which includes wins over a trio of former/current UFC Light Heavyweight Champions in Magomed Ankalaev, Jamahal Hill and Mauricio Rua.
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