I'm not saying Brown should keep fighting either. But I would like to point out that calling for Gathje's retirement is a bit absurd. He's undefeated and is on the cusp of a title shot and finally making some decent money. He needs to get out soon - but not right now.
I understand what you're saying, however here's my take on this (BTW, not directed at you, you're always cool AF in here)...
We as MMA fans need to evolve from the blood thirsty, boo when it hits ground, cheer for the rock em sock em non technical brawler, only appreciate KO's fans into fans that have a deeper appreciation for the art of combat. I'm not saying that everyone needs to dedicate almost 20 years to training like myself and others, or turn into JMMA crowds, however we need to demand more of ourselves for the growth of our sport.
The promoters hype the fighters that make them money and who they feel we want to see... If we only want to see the KO/Get KOed guys, we cheapen the sport and have to continually deal with the 'human cockfighting' stigma. The fighters today while financially are better than fighters of 10 years ago, still don't earn a retirement fund after they finish (unless they set it up for themselves). Seeing them only get fights because they're killing themselves in there isn't great for their lives post career. Sadly that falls on the demands that we the fans want.
10 years back, the "what's safer, boxing or MMA?" debate was everywhere... My defense of MMA was "boxing focuses on lots of head shots, and if you get knocked down (basically receiving a low grade concussion), the ref stands you up, gives you 8 seconds to compose yourself, and throws you back in.... MMA you can go a whole career being a strong submission grappler who gets it to the ground, and either wins or loses by a sub, protecting yourself from ending up punch-drunk.
This has changed, now MMA fights are Rock Em Sock Em, now you see countless elbows to the heads of guys, fighters not wanting to tap out because "they ain't no bitch". You see 30 year olds who look like 50 year olds, guys who slur their speech at 29. It's become about highlight reel KO's and bloody brawls rather than the spirit of competition and honor. It's become about that Conor McGregor attitude, and less about Bushido spirit. MMA is still rather new in the sense of being a sport, and with what we demand the fighters give us (for entertainment, and so they continually make money), I'm sad to see what medical fallout will happen in 20-30 years. The Bellator fighter who lived here in Florida, and was killed after being hit by a car and losing his leg... He was in his early 20's, they found signs of CTE in his brain... Early 20's. We have to protect the fighters, they need to be paid more, and we can't call them boring if they don't produce round 12 of every Rocky boxing match in every movie.
Anyway, that's my rant,
@lordofthepies is awesome, this was just my opinion on the modern MMA state