Chris Lytle talks modern MMA & bare knuckle boxing

Check out Bloody Elbow’s interview with UFC veteran Chris “Lights Out” Lytle before he takes on JC Llamas at Bare Knuckle FC 4 on February 2, 2019.

Longtime UFC veteran Chris Lytle may be retired from mixed martial arts, but he’s still fighting. The 44-year-old is set to compete at Bare Knuckle FC 4 in Cancun, Mexico on February 2, 2019. His opponent will be one-time Bellator fighter JC Llamas, who owns an MMA record of 8-7.

Before heading south, Lytle caught up with Bloody Elbow to discuss why he retired from MMA on a win. Lytle also gave his take on all of the trash talking involved with modern MMA, and why the culture around the sport was different when he was competing. Towards the end of the interview, Lytle opened up about why he chose bare knuckling fighting as opposed to traditional boxing, and gave a peek into what his future might hold.

**The complete interview video can be seen at the top of the page.

• With a record of 31-18-5, you walked away from the UFC on a win. You submitted Dan Hardy at UFC on Versus 5 back in 2011. How hard was it to retire from the sport on a win?

“When I did that, I didn’t really know anyone else who ever did that. I decided beforehand I was going to retire no matter what, win lose or draw. You always want to go out and win. I was able to do everything I could to make myself win that fight. I was able to win it. Sometimes you feel like you‘re still going out leaving money on the table so to speak. I won five out of my last six fights. It wasn’t a typical thing. Most people lose like five in a row, get knocked out a bunch and they quit. That wasn’t the case with me. I felt like I was fighting better than any point in my career.

“The difference was, being a father of four, I kind of realized I was being a full-time firefighter, and a full-time fighter, and having four kids. Something was going to be neglected, and it typically was my kids. Then I kind of got a chance to revisit that and look into that and started feeling guilty. Something has to give. I like going to work at the fire department, it’s going to be here longer. I love fighting, but I had to stop. So I did that; I retired. Luckily for me, this bare knuckle boxing came back. I always wanted to have more boxing matches, and I figured out a way to make it to where I train when my kids are at school now, and I can kind of have the best of both worlds.”

• So, you’re still with the fire department, right?

“Yeah, I’ve been on for almost 18 years now.”

• That’s quite impressive. Do you plan on putting in 20 years and calling it a career?

“You know what, probably not. People always asked me when I was fighting in the UFC like, ‘When are you going to quit the fire department?’ I’m like man, I enjoy going to work still. Like if you wake up and you’re still excited to go to work, why would you stop doing that? That’s still how I feel.”

• Your nickname “Lights Out” is so fitting, however you’re quite the submission artist. You hit that wicked kneebar on Brian Foster, triangle kimuras, and even landed that bulldog choke on Tiki Ghosn back in the day. Are you still grappling now that your MMA career is behind you?

“Oh for sure. I enjoy doing that. I was a student of the game. I love doing MMA; I love the grappling aspect of it; I love the boxing aspect of it. I don’t feel good unless I go in the gym and work out. I hate to tell you this as a younger person, but when you get older, it ain’t good to go in there and spar everyday. It’s not good for you. I’ve tried to transition. I love doing the Jiu-Jitsu; I have a wrestling background as well. Anything that has to do with one-on-one competition and me trying to assert my dominance, I’m going to try it.”

• Is it safe to say that your MMA career is behind you at this point?

“Yeah, and it sounds funny, I remember when people were asking me, ‘Well, you’re doing some bare knuckle boxing; you coming back to the UFC?’ I was like, ‘No, bare knuckle is easier.’ They’re like, ‘What?’ You got to understand by ‘easier,’ I mean the training is easier. I go in there, hit the mitts for a little bit. I shadowbox; I spar maybe. I hit the bag, that’s it. In MMA, that’s like the first quarter of your practice. You got to grapple then do kickboxing, you got to do wrestling. So much harder on your body; so much more time commitment. Like I said before, I’m not willing to not be a dad anymore.”

• What do you make of modern day MMA? It’s kind of like the Conor McGregor era with a lot of guys being over the top with the trash talk. Does that feel like a change to you?

“It wasn’t like that, especially early. Nobody really had the foresight to try and do that because there was no media outlets. Nobody would have known what you were talking about. You wouldn’t have gotten paid all this money to do it, you just would have been a prick. I understand why people do it now because it does pay off to do it. At the same time, I‘m glad I wasn’t around when that was going on because it would have bothered me...”

“The cool thing was when I was doing it, the people involved in the sport were the people who loved the sport, because there wasn’t a ton of money in it. So you knew the people were doing it, were doing it because they enjoyed the sport.”

• Now you’re in bare knuckle fighting. Why bare knuckle as opposed to building upon your traditional boxing career?

“I always wanted to have another boxing match. I was a boxer. When I went on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback I remember signing a contract and, like yeah, no more boxing. I was like ‘Eh, alright this is my path. I’m going to take it.’ I always wanted to have another boxing match. I remember retiring from MMA and tried to get a fight with Roy Jones a couple of times. I just wanted to do a big fight or something, but it never materialized.

“When I saw this bare knuckle, it intrigued me when I first saw it. I was like what is this? I watched it and I loved it. I was like, ‘This is like boxing on steroids in my opinion.’ It’s even more of the sweet science than the sweet science. Like, you have to hit and you can’t get hit. If you get hit, the fight might be over. You could get cut open or you could get knocked out. Even when you throw punches, you’ve got to land them in the right spot. If you hit them on top of the head you could break your hand. You have to be more precise. It’s more technical than I gave it credit for in the beginning.”

• Your upcoming Bare Knuckle FC bout will be held in Cancun, Mexico.
• “Whooooo!”
• Do you plan on hanging out a few days after the fight to soak up the sun?

“Yeah it’s February in Indianapolis, not real warm, so I wouldn’t mind staying a couple extra days down there. I’ve been to Mexico several times and enjoyed the people down there. Never been to Cancun so I’m looking forward to it. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity. With this sport, I’ve never really had the chance to represent my country. This almost feels like the Olympics to me now with the U.S. vs. Mexico. I’m fighting not only for myself, but I want to beat Mexico.”

• So what’s next for Chris Lytle? How many more of these events would you like to do?

“I don’t know. I told somebody the other day I knew how different I am. I tell people, ‘I‘m just doing this for fun. I’m 44 and I love doing this.’ They go, ‘What? Bare knuckle boxing for fun?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ Then I started thinking, that doesn’t sound good. I’m doing bare knuckle boxing because I enjoy it. That doesn’t sound great. So, as long as it’s fun, I might keep doing it.”

Watch Chris “Lights Out” Lytle lock horns with the JC Llamas at Bare Knuckle FC 4 in Cancun, Mexico on February 2, 2019. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for all of your combat sports event coverage including interviews, play-by-play, highlights, and more!