Athletes
Darren Elkins Is Determined To ‘Enjoy The Moment’ In Final UFC Fight
After An Action-packed 15-year Career, “The Damage” Is Ready To Make The Walk For The Final Time, And He’s Determined To Enjoy His Last Dance In The Octagon.
For more than a decade and a half, Darren Elkins has made the walk to the Octagon and pushed his mind, body and soul in a bid to outwork and outlast his opponents. His willingness to step into the trenches and thrive where the going gets toughest earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of the UFC’s grittiest warriors.
On Saturday night, at UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld, Elkins will make that walk for the 31st and final time as he competes in his last bout before calling time on his MMA career.
“After my last fight, I didn't get the result that I wanted, so I took some time to heal up [and] contemplated what I wanted to do with my career,” Elkins told UFC.com. “I've been doing this a long time, and I'm like, ‘You know what? I'm gonna go out one more [time, and] do it my way.’
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“I've always said I'm gonna leave my gloves in the Octagon, walk away, ride out into the sunset. So that's what I'm planning on doing.”
Considering everything Elkins has put into his career, that seems only appropriate. The 42-year-old, who was born and raised in Indiana but bases himself out of Sacramento, California, has gone toe-to-toe with a plethora of UFC featherweights and, win or lose, always earned his paycheck. But the one fight that stands out when you look back at his UFC resumé was his third-round finish of then-undefeated Bosnian prospect Mirsad Bektic.
At the time, Bektic was being discussed as a potential rising star of the 145-pound division and was favored to defeat Elkins in their meeting at UFC 209 back in March 2017. But, in an inspired performance, Elkins simply would not be denied as he battled tooth and nail with the unbeaten prospect for two rounds, then finished him with a head kick and follow-up punches in the third for a win he still considers his best.
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“Man, I mean, the [Mirsad] Bektic fight was a gamechanger for me,” he recalled. “That's what everybody knows me by. When people talk about my career, they always talk about the Mirsad Bekic fight. All my fights are pretty entertaining, but that's the one that comes to mind to most people.”
Elkins’ nickname “The Damage” started out as a humorous commentary on his habit for getting busted up in fights. But rather than look to shed the tag, Elkins leaned into it throughout his career and even went as far as having his fighting moniker tattooed across his chest to cement that association. For him, it’s all about approaching things with a smile.
“I’ve always had a sense of humor about life. I don't take life too serious,” he admitted. “A lot of people take life so serious, and they care about what everybody thinks. People are out there reading their own comments, and I don't care. Look, I've done things my way. I know who I am. I've always been really comfortable with who I am… So, yeah, I do bleed a lot. Yeah, there is a lot of blood. Yes, I do take damage, but I can accept it. I know who I am. I'm fine. I heal fast. I got a lot of traits because of it, but yeah, I can take myself not so serious, like everybody else.”
While there’s a little humor behind the nickname, there’s also an unbreakable will to win that has seen him leave it all inside the Octagon throughout his fighting career.
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“I figured out, I think from wrestling originally, just when it gets tough, and then when it comes down to just pure heart and who can push harder, that's when I usually win,” he said. “Most people can't push themselves as hard as me, can't dig as deep as I can. Are they going to be better athletes than me? Yes. Are they going to be faster than me? That could happen. There's a lot of things. But when it comes down to pure heart and pure guts, I'm gonna win most of those times.”
That “refuse to lose” mindset was something he developed early, with a young Elkins forced to stand up for himself in the schoolyard and in his neighborhood growing up.
“I'm from Indiana. Where I went to school, I got in a lot of fights. I got picked on a lot,” he recalled. “So, just for me, it's because I always wanted to prove people wrong. I wanted to always show them, yes, I'm I'm different. I'm gonna succeed in life.
“I always told myself, ‘Don't let those people make fun of you [and] get you down. You're gonna be different,’ you know? And I think, because of that, I've always been motivated. I was never gonna give up on myself.”
That decision to steadfastly believe in himself has served him well through his career, and he gets to showcase that grit and determination one more time as he gets set to compete for the final time as a UFC athlete this weekend.
His opponent, Cuba’s Yadier Del Valle, is 12 years Elkins’ junior, and is only three fights into his UFC career. But, despite facing an opponent whose journey on the world stage is only just beginning, Elkins said the matchup itself is one that excites him.
Darren Elkins: "This Is The Last One" | UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld
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Darren Elkins: "This Is The Last One" | UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld
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"I'm happy it is him, you know? He seems like a pretty good dude. He's a scrappy dude. It makes sense that they matched us up,” he said. “He brings it. I bring it. It's gonna be an entertaining fight.”
Elkins said he was sure to take the time to really enjoy his final fight camp and revealed the mantra that has underpinned his prep for the final fight of his career.
“It's been fun, man,” he said. “I knew this was gonna be my last training camp, so it's like one of those things where it's like I want to train hard, and I am training hard, and I've had some great training sessions, but I want to enjoy the moment… I knew I wanted to be more in the moment and appreciate the people that's pushed me all these years. And the big thing I've been saying is ‘enjoy the moment’ because this is the last one. This is my last fight camp.”
The fight itself will be an emotional one for Elkins and his family, but when he steps into the Octagon for the final time, he’ll be as focused and driven as ever as he looks to close out his career with one more victory under the bright lights of the UFC.
And when it’s all over at the end of Saturday night, Elkins will lay down the gloves in the center of the Octagon and bid farewell, before moving on to spend time with his family. That won’t necessarily mean he’s completely done with the sport, however.
“I've put in a lot of work in this game,” he said. “I've done combat sports since I was five, so over 37 years. Just waking up and just a lot of gratitude, thankfulness, and just get to spend time more time with my family now… Next for ‘The Damage’ is I’m gonna step into a coaching role as my son's trying to get (into it). He wants to be a fighter now!
“I'll be traveling. I'll be doing more hiking. I'll be doing more fishing. Probably do some union pipe fitting again and just staying busy. I like staying busy.”
It’s clear that the activity will continue for Elkins, but you’ll be more likely to see him holding a fishing rod, rather than wearing MMA gloves, in the future.
”My son keeps on telling me that he fishes almost every day, and I keep telling him I don't have time to fish right now; I'm in training camp. So, I need to sit down and do some fishing with my son.”
UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 8, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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