"There was pondering" - Reece McLaren says thoughts about early retirement hit him after Kairat Akhmetov loss

Reece McLaren finally made his way back to the win column when he stepped back inside the ring at ONE Fight Night 22. The flyweight MMA contender has been waiting for a chance to return since ONE Fight Night 10 in May of last year when ONE Championship debuted in the United States.

His loss to Kairat Akhmetov on that night set McLaren back and had him questioning what he had left in the gas tank. However, despite his concerns, he was able to fight out a split decision win over Hu Yong this past weekend in order to get his hand raised once again.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA after the fight, Reece McLaren spoke about this past year and how difficult it has been for his mindset as a contender:

"This win was so emotional, there was pondering of retirement, there was pondering of, 'What the hell am I doing?' But I'm here doing something, right? Doing something right. Look man, a lot of things that have happened since the last one. I am with just an amazing team and an amazing coach who is absolutely pushing the best out of me."

Watch the full interview below:

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Reece McLaren proved something to himself

You can certainly gain confidence from being on the mats in training and working with teammates, but for someone like Reece McLaren, he needed to get back in there.

All of his hard work could have been undone on May 3 when he came up against the Chinese contender with the questions of retirement sure to be amplified. His bounce-back win will have proved something to his fans, supporters, and most importantly, himself.

The No.4-ranked contender had to dig deep to get this win but showed that he still has the heart and drive to make that happen when he needs it the most.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch the full ONE Fight Night 22 card via the free event replay.