Matt Hamill comes out of retirement, meets Roger Hollett at UFC 152

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

After suffering back to back losses to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Alexander Gustafsson in 2011, Matt Hamill opted to retire from MMA. He cited the toll injuries and years in the cage had taken on his body, and wanted time to rest and be with his family.

Well, it's been less than a year since his last bout, and now he's decided to come back to the sport. Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole reported on Friday that Hamill will return to action in September at UFC 152, taking on UFC newcomer Roger Hollett in Toronto.

Hamill sport's a 9-4 record in his UFC career, with one of those wins being one of the more controversial disqualifications in the sport's history over Jon Jones. Prior to his losses to Jackson and Gustafsson, Hamill had won consecutive fights over Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz, for what was technically a five-fight winning streak including the Jones fight.

Hollett, the former MFC Light Heavyweight Champion, makes his UFC debut on the strength of five straight wins. His most recent win came in Bellator Fighting Championships last November, and he brings a 13-3 record overall into this debut.

Penick's Analysis: That's... wholly unexpected. Hamill's decision to retire seemed a little early, considering his consecutive losses had come against top competition. Still, with the toll he said injuries had taken on his body, it wasn't a surprising decision. It was him walking out on his own volition. Now he's decided he's not finished, and that's absolutely his decision to make, but this time around it definitely comes as a bit of a surprise. He was competing at a fairly high level for awhile, but we'll find out in September how much a year out of action has affected him.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_14019.shtml

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