August 2015 seemed like a great month for Frankie Perez. When the UFC lightweight squared off against Sam Stout at UFC Fight Night 74, he stopped the Canadian MMA veteran in less than a minute. It was arguably the best win of his career and a proper rebound from a disappointing performance against Johnny Case from January of that year.
And then, immediately after the fight, Perez retired. A 26-year-old winner in the Octagon, with his entire future ahead of him, simply walked away from the sport. "I have the utmost confidence to beat anybody in this division," Perez said at the time.