Raphael Assuncao might have retired if he had lost at UFC Fight Night 212

“It’s a big relief for sure. There are no other words there,” Assuncao told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “… When I turned 40, either I’ll retire or I’ll give it one more shot to put myself to the test and start to do good about it.”

“To be honest, probably (would’ve retired),” Assuncao said.

“Probably, just because, and I’m not being proud about it – I’m not being super proud about this – I would’ve probably made a switch to featherweight. I’m not positive if I would still be in the UFC. I don’t know. With five losses, it’s probably not a good number to be in the UFC. If I decided not to retire had I lost today, I probably would’ve moved up in weight class because I felt like I was losing muscle. It’s just mentalizing all these things. Unfortunately, you have to think of the loss. It worked out fine.”