Is Ryan Garcia considering a career change?
The 25-year-old boxer, who was handed a one-year suspension on Thursday by the sport’s authorities for failing a drugs test following what was initially a decision victory over the previously unbeaten Devin Haney in April, has reacted to the news by once again floating the idea of becoming boxing’s first high profile fighter to move to mixed martial arts.
Garcia has denied allegations of knowingly infesting the banned substance ostarine and announced in a socila media post this week that he is “officially retired.” The Garcia-Haney bout is now recorded as a no-contest.
“Hey look at this cry baby get what he wants,” Garcia wrote on social media of Haney. “I never cheated. They banned me for a year. I HATE ALL YALL FAKE AHHH PEOPLE. Boxing sucks I’m goin to the UFC.”
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Now, whether or not this has any firm substance to it remains to be seen and the suspension issued to the boxer by the New York State Athletic Commission would apply to mixed martial arts competition also, so Garcia would not be eligible for a hypothetical MMA bout until that is served.
Garcia has frequently floated a move to mixed martial arts, and has been linked to a fight with UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
However, there are several notable hurdles that would require to be negotiated — such as Garcia’s suspension and his various promotional rights within boxing.
As part of the terms of the suspension, Garcia must forfeit $1.1 million of his official purse for the Haney fight.
