Jalin Turner recently opened up about his ‘walk-off KO’ moment against Renato Moicano last year.
Last year, Turner stepped into the Octagon at UFC 300 for a clash with Moicano. In the closing seconds of the opening round, ‘The Tarantula’ blasted Moicano with a left that sent him crashing to the canvas. But instead of moving in and looking to finish the fight with some ground-and-pound strikes, Turner turned and walked away, seemingly thinking he had scored himself a walk-off KO.
However, Moicano instead sprang back up and ended up mounting a comeback in the second round, landing a TKO in the final minute.
Speaking with Submission Radio, Turner addressed his decision to walk away instead of going for the kill, revealing that he simply didn’t want to inflict any more damage on his opponent.
“I’ma just speak on this. I really wanted to win in that fight,” Turner said. “That was the biggest card I ever fought on. I felt like it was such a redemption moment… Everybody tried to talk about how I tried to walk-off KO Moicano. That’s not even what happened.
“I literally came to a moment of clarify where I didn’t want to continue to hurt this man… When it happened, when I saw him fall, I didn’t want to keep hitting him. I don’t know why. I just feel like God opened my mind and just gave me clarity.“
Jalin Turner retires from MMA
After coming up short against Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 313 earlier this month, Jalin Turner announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
“Thank you for all the love and support!” Turner wrote on Instagram. “I started training mma at 18 in 2013 I started training in my backyard, a SoCal, LA born, IE raised kid with no path and a big dream. God opened the door to MMA when I didn’t know where else to go.
“I gave myself 4 years to fight in a big promotion and I did then the 5th year I got to the UFC in 2018. Made it to the top 10 in the toughest division, I made it in a video game. Looking back it doesn’t feel real. I love you all. I’m sorry I lost my focus and fire earlier than ever expected. 29 years young time is on my good side. I wish I could reply to everyone’s messages. Just know all the positivity has helped me more than you all know I appreciate it all!
“Things can change …We’ll see what the future holds.”
