Did Jimmy Crute retire at UFC 290? 27-year-old taking off gloves after loss kickstarts Twitter buzz

Jimmy Crute took on Alonzo Menifield in a rematch to start off the UFC 290 late prelims action. While both fighters spent a lot of time pummelling against the cage, Menifield landed the more significant shots in stand-up exchanges.

Menifield started landing heavier shots early in the second round, forcing Crute into a desperate takedown attempt. 'Atomic' timed his sprawl perfectly to catch Crute in a guillotine that earned him an immediate tap.

Jimmy Crute subsequently pulled off one of his gloves inside the octagon, asking the cutman to take out the other, in a typical retirement gesture. However, the broadcast ended with Menifield's interview, which would not have been the case had Crute actually hung up his gloves for good.

Regardless, fans and pundits were concerned to see the 27-year-old Australian prospect tease early retirement. According to a Twitter user, it was Crute's coaches who immediately intervened before the UFC light heavyweight prospect made any announcements. @MorgsCrabtree wrote:

"Jimmy Crute just sat in the middle of the octagon and told the cutman to take his gloves off like he’s retiring and his coaches picked them up straight away like 'stop bitching'"

Check out some more comments below:

"Crute should retire. Still young enough to pursue another career. Sad boy on top of having shit fight IQ"

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Jimmy Crute was looking to start the second phase of his career with a victory over Alonzo Menifield at UFC 290

Jimmy Crute and Alonzo Menifield clashed at UFC 284 earlier this year, ending up in a majority draw. While Crute displayed an amazing chin in going the distance, the fight only ended up in a draw as Menifield was deducted a point due to a fence grab.

Having suffered back-to-back first-round KO losses, followed by a majority draw, Crute changed his entire team to train at Combat 1 under Sam Hayward. The 27-year-old sounded supremely confident going into his rematch against Menifield and was looking forward to a sort of second coming. Jimmy Crute told Sporting News in a recent interview:

"I’ve started training at Combat 1 under Sam Hayward, I’ve had a complete team change. There’s no disrespect thrown to the way I was training but now I feel like I’ve got a home gym...I feel like I get to say goodbye to that first run and now I get to go on my next. It’s really weird, I feel like I’ve fallen in love with the sport again and it feels really nice"