Ray recovered and ready to climb back to the Top 15

For a brief moment, Stevie Ray thought that his July 2017 bout against Paul Felder was going to be his last one, as he had come to the end of his contract with the UFC and really had no desire to be anywhere but in the Octagon.“I did initially think about it (retirement) because I’m in this to be the best,” he said. “I had some offers elsewhere, so I don’t think I would have retired, but it took a long time to get to the UFC and I feel I deserve to be in the UFC.&rd