Darren Elkins has put an end to one of the most unique and long-lived careers in the recent history of UFC. "The Damage" retired after falling by TKO to Yadier del Valle in just 35 seconds during UFC Vegas 120, closing more than 16 years within the company in a much more bitter way than many fans would have wished.
Elkins was 42 years old, had been competing professionally since 2007 and had made his debut in UFC in March 2010. In front of him was Del Valle, a 30-year-old fighter who is practically at the opposite end of his career.
Twelve years apart and, above all, two completely different sporting moments.
Del Valle was not a veteran chosen to share one last battle with Elkins. He was a fighter on the rise, physically fresh and with a professional record of 10-1 before the fight. The American, by contrast, was coming in after a lifetime of accumulating wars inside the octagon.
The result ended up reflecting that difference in moments.
Del Valle came out quickly, found a left hand practically in the first serious exchange and sent Elkins to the ground. The subsequent punishment forced the referee to stop the fight when barely 35 seconds had elapsed.
There was no last war, no impossible comeback or farewell to a film.
Just a young, explosive fighter running over a veteran who had already announced that this would be his last night.
And precisely there an inevitable question appears: was it really necessary to give this opponent to Darren Elkins for his retirement fight?
UFC has no obligation to give away victories to its veterans. A professional fight must always maintain a minimum of competitive legitimacy and it would not be fair to place an opponent selected only to lose in front of Elkins.
But between giving him a victory and facing a 42-year-old fighter, after more than 40 professional fights and 16 years in UFC, against a prospect twelve years younger there is plenty of margin.
Especially since Elkins wasn't just any veteran.
"The Damage" built virtually his entire sporting identity around taking punishment and continuing to advance. He was never a champion, he never became a major pay-per-view star and he was probably never among the most technically brilliant fighters of his generation. Even so, he ended up being one of the most recognizable names in featherweight.
His nickname could not describe him better.
Elkins' fights became a test of endurance for years. He could lose trades, end up with a completely bloodied face, and look seconds away from being finished and then find a way to return to combat.
The victory over Mirsad Bektic in 2017 represents probably the best example of his entire career. Elkins was dominated for much of the matchup, took a huge punishment and ended up staging a memorable comeback to win by knockout in the third round.
That fight perfectly summed up who Darren Elkins was.
He didn't have to be better than his opponent for fifteen minutes. You had to get him to stop fighting, and for many years that was extraordinarily complicated.
He also achieved important victories against names such as Michael Johnson, Dennis Bermudez, Hatsu Hioki or Charles Oliveira during a career that ended up extending through different generations of featherweight.
The problem is that a style based on such a capacity to absorb damage inevitably has an expiration date.
Elkins himself had acknowledged before UFC Vegas 120 that camps were getting harder and harder on his body. At 42, he understood that the time had come to end and had previously announced that the fight against Del Valle would be the last of his career regardless of the outcome.
That is why matchmaking is even more debatable.
Del Valle had much more to win sportingly than Elkins. The Cuban needed to regain momentum and continues to build his career within UFC. The veteran, on the other hand, did not need to prove absolutely anything.
The generational difference was perfectly represented by a curious fact: when Elkins began his professional career, Yadier del Valle was just ten years old.
That doesn't automatically make the pairing unfair. Elkins agreed to compete and was still a professional fighter hired by UFC. But since it's an announced farewell, it's reasonable to wonder if there wasn't a more balanced alternative.
A fight against another veteran in a similar situation would have had even more narrative appeal. Two races coming to the end, comparable levels of attrition and the possibility of saying goodbye to a historical figure of the division with a fight more in line with his sporting moment.
UFC chose another path.
For Yadier del Valle, obviously, there is nothing to reproach. His obligation was to win and he did it in the most forceful way possible. He did not choose the age of his rival or the moment of his career. He received a well-known name and took advantage of the opportunity in 35 seconds.
Criticism, if it exists, should be directed exclusively at matchmaking.
The result shouldn't tarnish Darren Elkins' legacy, either.
His career was never built around belts. It was built around something much more difficult to measure: the ability to turn seemingly lost fights into real battles.
For more than a decade he was one of those fighters who justified watching a preliminary even when the general public barely knew his name.
Elkins leaves after having crossed several generations of UFC and having competed inside the octagon for more than 16 years. Very few manage to stay that long in the largest MMA organization in the world.
His last image will be that of a quick defeat against a fighter twelve years younger.
It was not the end of the film that a career like his deserved. Perhaps it was not necessary to put in front of him one of the men who represent precisely the generation that comes to replace him.
But there is something paradoxically coherent in all this.
Darren Elkins spent his entire career being "The Damage" and leaves exactly the same as he lived inside the octagon: without choosing the easy path.
This time, he will definitely not have to get up once again.