(The announcement, via MMAWeeklyVideos)

Last night following the TUF Live Finale weigh-ins at the Pearl Theater at The Palms in Las Vegas, seven-year UFC veteran Kenny Florian announced his retirement from the sport. The affable fan-favorite had compiled a 12-5 record in the Octagon with seven of his wins by rear-naked choke, and was the only fighter in UFC history to compete in four weight classes, starting with his entry as a middleweight on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. His greatest success came as a lightweight, where he spent the majority of his career, scoring victories over top competition like Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, and Takanori Gomi, and competing for the lightweight title twice. Most recently, he made a run at the featherweight belt, losing a unanimous decision to Jose Aldo at UFC 136. Here’s how he explained his decision to walk away:

“I’ve dealt with injuries in the past, and back in November I was back into training and hurt my back working out, and it just hasn’t quite been the same. Been dealing with it, been trying to get back and doing rehab and things like that, and a few weeks ago I kind of re-injured it again. So it’s been tough, man, I haven’t been able to train, and I’ve always been that person, I don’t want to do anything half-assed. If I’m going to train for a fight, if I’m going to train doing what I’m doing, I want to be able to do it 100%, and if I’m not able to do those things, I can’t really do it. So it’s been several months, it’s been very, very hard. Your identity becomes what you do, and it’s been tough.”

Following his decision loss to CB Dollaway at UFC 146 and immediate firing, a somewhat depressed-sounding Jason Miller went on MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour to discuss his uncertain future, and the retirement that he promised if he lost to Dollaway. On the one hand, Miller seemed like he’d come to terms with his failure in the UFC and departure from MMA:

“I feel a little bit free, in a weird way…I know that sounds strange when I’ve devoted my entire life to fighting. I feel like life is unlocked for a whole new set of adventures…I don’t have the need to super-impress one person in particular and make them happy. I can focus on making myself happy. I don’t have the pressures of a commissioner chasing me around with a piss cup. I don’t have the pressures of everybody verbally abusing me for every one one of my missteps via social media. I feel like a weight is lifted…Every fighter gives the same answer when they say they’re retired. Pretty much every fighter says ‘I’m retired until I need money.’ But I’m a pretty smart dude, and I have a lot of avenues available to me.”

But at other times in interview, Miller’s down-in-the-dumps vibe came off as alarmingly self-destructive:

(Val Kilmer isn’t the most experienced strength-and-conditioning coach that BJ’s trained with, but he works cheap, and he’s available pretty much all the time.)

BJ Penn may have tried to retire after his crushing loss to Nick Diaz last October, but the UFC hasn’t given up on him yet, and is reportedly trying to lure the future Hall of Famer back to the Octagon with a bout against Josh Koscheck. Here’s what Kos said via twitter last night:

#UFC just offered me to fight BJ Penn…I said YES!!!!! Just waiting on him!!!!!! Let’s scrap bra?

UFC president Dana White revealed earlier this month that Penn turned down a fight against Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez. A return fight against Koscheck — who’s coming off a split-decision loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC on FOX 3 — might be more attractive to Penn, in that it wouldn’t require the Prodigy to cut to 155 or make a “downgrading” appearance in Strikeforce.

(For some reason, we can’t watch this fight without first playing “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” on loop for a good 3 hours.) 

Sad news for those of you who were still clinging to the fragile hope that it was only a matter of time before Fedor Emelianenko would rise from the ashes of mediocrity that he seems to have entrenched himself in lately. In a recent interview with Russian publication Rianovosti, “The Last Emperor” candidly spoke about his future in MMA, and claimed that it might be coming to an end after his fight with fellow legend Pedro Rizzo, which is set to transpire on June 21st in St. Petersberg. True to form, Fedor was not one to elaborate when discussing the possibility of retirement.

I think it’s time to call it a day. This fight may be my last one. 

So there you have it. God is dead, there will be no Christmas this year, and Fedor f’ing Emelianenko is never going to fight an opponent that stands a chance of beating him ever again. And this is in no way an insult to Rizzo, it’s just that, well, if Gilbert Yvel was able to do this to him, just imagine what Fedor will do. Now combine that with the fact that Rizzo has not fought since nearly crippling the human punching bag that is Ken Shamrock back in July of 2010, and you have the makings for another brutal KO win on Emelianenko’s record over an opponent that no one wants to see get knocked out again.

But Emelianenko was nothing but considerate when discussing his opponent, as has become the standard with a true gentlemen like Fedor:

I have been learning from Pedro’s fights and have a lot of respect for him. He is a fighter of a great maturity, beating many of the strongest.

There’s no denying that in his prime, Rizzo was one of the most feared strikers in the sport, and deserves a boatload of respect for his accomplishments as a mixed martial artist. But come June 21st, we might see two illustrious careers come to an end. One via retirement, and the other via death.

-J. Jones

(Photo via ocregister.com)

UFC welterweight James Wilks — who became the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. after slicing through Che Mills, Frank Lester (twice), and DaMarques Johnson — has announced his retirement from MMA. The 34-year-old Brit has been sidelined due to injuries since his decision loss to Claude Patrick in October 2010, and finally gave in to doctors’ warnings that he could become paralyzed if he continued to compete.

As MMAJunkie explained, Wilks has spent his entire MMA career fighting with a fractured vertebrae from an old rugby injury, leading to a condition called spinal stenosis: ”My bones are touching the spinal cord,” Wilks said. “There should be a gap, so when you get hit, you’ve got some leeway for it not to cut into the vertebrae. But my vertebrae have grown from the front and back, and they’re touching the spinal cord…I think if I was single and didn’t have a wife and a son to look after, I probably would have risked it. But I thought about it for quite a while and made the decision (to retire)…It sucks because I don’t feel I’ve shown what really have in the Octagon, and I didn’t want to go out on a loss.”

Wilks compiled an official record of 2-2 in the Octagon, including a decision win over Peter Sobotta at UFC 115. He’ll now turn his attention to teaching at his Lightning MMA gym in Laguna Hills, California, and extolling the virtues of a plant-based diet.

Last week we showed you a BJ Penn video interview from Karyn Bryant in which the former champion vaguely spoke about his future, saying he had no plans to fight but refusing to say the word “retire.” However, according to UFC president Dana White, Penn told him that same week in Stockholm that he would in fact fight again.

“I heard some sh_t that he said he was going to retire and all this stuff,” White said. “[BJ] was like, ‘Nah, I’m going to fight again,’” MMA Fighting reports.

So there you have it. Despite saying that he was “done,” after losing to Nick Diaz last October, BJ will scrap again, according to his boss. I suppose we all figured as much, considering how much Penn loves fighting and how much money he makes doing it.

But the question is, who would BJ fight? Penn has only won one bout in his last five, albeit all against very top competition. At lightweight, the 33 year-old has seemed to have lost a bit of of quickness and reaction time — which is death in the lighter weight classes, and specifically for astalking counter-puncher like Penn. At welterweight, Penn is forced to pack on 15 pounds of unnecessary bulk, which has always been unfair but his crazy talent still allowed him to be successful there.

(Come on brah, would you give up this life to wrestle with a bunch of fence holders? | Photo via FIGHT!)

My good friend Karyn Bryant, host of MMA Heat, recently interviewed former welterweight and lightweight champion BJ Penn and asked him if he was still retired. Penn said he was grateful for the attention but that he doesn’t intend to fight right now.

“At the moment, I don’t have any plans to fight,” Penn said. “I have nothing scheduled, I’m just kind of taking it easy at this point in my life. As of right now, yeah, I’m not entering the Octagon anytime soon.”

Penn says that losing to Nick Diaz last fall was not the only reason he decided to stop competing. “The fight was a tough fight but I don’t think it was just that fight. I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he said.

Bryant revealed to Penn that she had spoken to his boxing coach Jason Parillo, and that Parillo said he recently held pads for BJ. So why would Penn be hitting pads if he was retired?

(“Did I at least win the grappling round?“)

Could Jason Miller‘s 10-plus-year fighting career come to an end on May 26th? Mayhem appeared on last night’s episode of Spike TV’s “MMA Uncensored Live,” and raised the stakes for his UFC 146 battle with CB Dollaway:

“I’m on my own chopping block. If I lose to him, I’m quitting! I don’t even deserve to be in there! There’s not an easy fight. In the UFC, there’s no easy fight. He doesn’t deserve to be in there with me, and I’ll prove it. I’ll prove it in under a round, because, we see…I tend to get tired in the second round. [laughs] We’re both in a similar spot in our career I guess. We’re both on the chopping block. That’s fine. I’m really happy with that.”

(Shirtless Saturdays just aren’t going to be the same around the gym without Nick.)

MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani caught up with UFC on Fox 3 headliner Nate Diaz today at the press conference today in New York for the New Jersey event and the lightweight contender revealed that he thinks his brother Nick’s days in the Octagon are over.

“Triathlon season is starting so he’s just training, getting in shape for that. [He's] concentrating on being in shape, being healthy, helping me out and coaching me for my fights. Right now, I don’t think [we'll ever see him back]. He’s just big on, like I said, just being healthy and staying in shape and not worrying about [fighting] and thinking about it. I think he’s retired. He hasn’t been into this whole fighting thing for some time, you know? Since everything that goes on with the funny wins and losses — for not just him — for me and for people on our team. I think he’s just relaxed right now and he’s pretty set on his retirement. I kind of agree with him, you know? It’s hard to say, especially when it’s somebody like my brother,” Nate explained.

Check out the video and the rest of what Nate had to say about the situation after the jump.

“Come on, Nick. Tell us how you *really* feel.” (Video: ZombieProphet)

Though he fought in a cage only ten yards wide, Nick Diaz must have felt like he was fighting on a football field last night. For five rounds he stalked Carlos Condit but was unable able to pin him in any of the Octagon’s eight corners. In true Stockton fashion, he never stopped pressing forward and was always the aggressor, but did he exhibit ‘Octagon Control’? As we generally define the term, yes. As it’s actually defined, no. Diaz didn’t want to keep circling and chasing Condit; he wanted to trap him against the cage and unload merciless combinations–basically, to fight him in a phone booth. The reason he didn’t was because Condit executed his game plan perfectly and dictated the flow of the fight. Even if that wasn’t the case and Diaz was in full control of the bout, let’s not start pretending that we love nothing more than a fight full of ‘Octagon Control’. As fans we value effective striking and grappling above position and pace. So too should the judges.

(DO NOT run an unfiltered image search for ‘Matt Hughes’. EVER. This photo is nothing. Learn from my mistake, kids.)

Just four months after putting himself “on a shelf”–a euphemism for the dreaded ‘R-word‘–Matt Hughes is ready to glove up once again. After suffering back-to-back first round knockouts to BJ Penn and Josh Koscheck, the UFC Hall of Famer made a non-committal pledge to walk away from the sport, a move he’d pondered openly while winding down his career.

As we’ve seen time and time again, getting your head bashed in is surprisingly difficult to walk away from. Hughes has undoubtedly made enough money to retire comfortably, has plenty of hobbies to occupy his time, and with nine UFC titles to his name he has nothing left to prove. But Hughes didn’t start his MMA career in search of fame or fortune; the man simply loves to compete, and pounding his brother behind the barn just doesn’t cut it these days.

Ultimately, his fate lies in Dana White’s hands, not his own, and most certainly not his wife’s. During an interview on FUEL last night, Hughes established the pecking order in his household: “I think Dana could be the final decision maker. My wife’s a great lady, but she’s not going to tell me when Matt Hughes retires.” Well, I guess we know who’s cooking up the country breakfast this morning.

A likeable person who retired from MMA is now seen with a baseball bat? It’s like a photo negative of Jose Canseco!

Far too often, an athlete will stick around past his or her prime, clinging to the idea that he or she can still dominate if given the opportunity. While this isn’t exclusive to mixed martial arts by any means, it’s especially notable in the sport. Fighters are practically bred to believe that when they’re losing, it’s just because they’re in a rut, and when they snap the losing streak, it’s a sign that things are going right for them again. Our acceptance, and often encouragement, of this idea only makes it easier for the fighters themselves to accept it. The end result is usually cringing after watching an older, slower fighter suffer yet another vicious knockout in a half empty arena known for housing a minor league sports team.

Fortunately, Jorge Rivera knows his limits as an athlete, and has officially retired from our sport. He first announced his intention to retire, regardless of the outcome of his fight with Eric “Red” Shafer, on Friday’s edition of MMAJunkie.com radio. After punching out Shafer in the second round of their undercard tilt last night, Rivera made the move official to announcer Jon Anik.

So it’s official: horse meat > beef jerky. (Photo: UFC.com)

There was a time when the UFC had trouble drumming up any interest at all in their heavyweight division—can you say ‘Arlovski vs. Buentello for the title!!!’?—but those days are long gone. One could point to the growth of the sport attracting big men from other sports, or credit training camps for churning out well-rounded fighters, but much of the interest in the revitalized division has been carried by the broad, skull-tatted shoulders of one man.

Brock Lesnar’s 2008 debut in the Octagon brought interest, intrigue, and—most importantly—eyeballs. Lots of them. Speculation over whether the big man could survive against a real fighter was rampant, but before long we were asking if anyone could survive in a real fight against him. He quickly smashed his way to the top of the 265 lb. heap, but his skid down that mountain was just as fast. Following two brutal, first-round losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, Brock is ready to hang up the gloves. Looking back at his brief career, if it is truly over, one thing becomes painfully clear: Brock Lesnar doesn’t love fighting; Brock Lesnar loves beating people up. While those two interests often intertwine, they quickly diverge when you start getting tagged. For all of the debates over Brock’s questionable chin and concerns for vegetable-rejecting body, the real downfall of his MMA career was his heart. He doesn’t love this fighting game, and MMA is a cruel mistress. If you can’t fully commit to her, you can expect to find a pile of shredded “Clutch Gear” shirts on the doorstep when you get home from the bar. Brock seems to have gotten that message and is packing his things and moving on with his life.

(Video courtesy of UStream/MMAFightCornerRadio)

Forrest Griffin was on MMA Fight Corner Radio this weekend and when asked whether or not he would entertain a third fight with Tito Ortiz, the former UFC light heavyweight champ didn’t hesitate in answering.

“If people would pay to see that fight, I’ll get paid to fight that fight,” Griffin said. “I care more about where the fight is; I don’t travel well. If that fight [with Tito] happens in the continental United States, I’m down.”

By Mike Russell

We caught up with Carlos Newton briefly over the weekend in Toronto at the MMA Expo and the former UFC welterweight champion surprised us with the news that he has retired.

“I’m retired,” Newton explained. “The sport just isn’t as competitive as it used to be.”

Instead of focusing on preparing to fight inside the cage, “The Ronin” says he has turned his focus on fighting for proper regulation by the people who officiate both inside and outside of it.

“I’m just concentrating on helping to improve the regulation of the sport and I’m looking into becoming a judge. I think that as fighters we have a lot more knowledge and insight into the intricacies of what’s going on in a fight than someone who has never competed. MMA judging needs fixing and I’m hoping I can help do it.”

By Ryan Ventura

When I was ten years old my uncle bought me a brand new Playstation game that helped blossom my love and interest in combat sports. K-1 Revenge came out in 1999 and it introduced me to many kickboxing legends that I admire and still enjoy watching today. Names like Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, the late Andy Hug, Mike Bernardo, and many more. One name in the game that really stood out to me at the time was Mirko Tiger. Not because of his style or the way he played, but it was his name itself that I just found to be very cool. He wasn’t the best fighter in the game, but the ring announcer mentioning the name ‘Mirrrrrkooooooo Tiiiiggggeeeerr’ has always stuck in my head.

Eventually I got older, found out that his real name was Mirko Filipovic, became more familiar with his kickboxing accomplishments, and of course his run in PRIDE. The man who would later be best known as ‘Cro Cop’ began his kickboxing career in 1996 following in the footsteps of fellow Croatian legend Branco Cikatic. The southpaw of course got the nickname Cro Cop from his days working as a commando in the Croatian polilce anti-terrorism unit.

Continue reading this tribute to one of the all-time greats at Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com.

(Kenny chose brown and blue to match his face at the presser.)

When Kenny Florian fell short in his third UFC title bid Saturday night against featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 136, fans and the media immediately began inexplicably asking “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ finalist if perhaps it would be a good time for him to call it a career. Seems a bit harsh, but everyone loves  winner.

Even UFC president Dana White seemed to hint at the post-fight press conference that Florian’s future with the promotion might be behind the microphone as opposed to in the Octagon.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and Kenny Florian will be with us no matter what.
“Kenny Florian’s awesome. He commentated our last show. I think he’s great on camera. I think he’s great on the mic,” White gushed. “He’s a talented guy with a lot of options, and he’s always been a solid guy with us and always been a team player. I love Kenny Florian. There’s a lot of things that could happen with Kenny Florian.”The thing about Kenny is he’s smart. He’s talented. He’s got other options. He’s got things going on outside of fighting, too. It’s just one of those things he needs to sit down and really figure out on his own.”

(“Dust in the wind / All we are is dust in the wind.” Photo via MMAFighting)

When Dana White first attempted to end Chuck Liddell’s MMA career in 2009, the move was met with mixed feelings by the MMA community. Though it was admirable to see a fight promoter put his friend’s health before profits, it seemed unfair that Liddell had no say in his own retirement. After all he gave to the sport, didn’t he deserve to go out on his own terms?

At the time, Liddell was riding back-to-back knockout losses against Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua. He had reached the end of the line as a top competitor, and didn’t need any more concussions in his life. And yet, he convinced White to give him one last dance against Tito Ortiz. Then, Ortiz pulled out of their fight, and Rich Franklin stepped in and knocked Chuck out again.

In a way, it was the saddest knockout of Chuck’s career because of how well he was doing up until he lost consciousness. He was clearly motivated and in great shape — but after 12 years of standing and banging, it only took a single off-balance hook to shut his brain off.

I’m sure Dana White regretted the way the situation turned out, and the role he played in allowing Liddell to suffer another head-trauma. And I hope he learned a lesson that he can now use in dealing with Matt Hughes.

By Jared “DangadaDang” Jones

When asked to describe his career in his final post-fight interview following his submission victory over Dan Hardy, Chris Lytle summed up more than a decade’s worth of sport-defining battles with one word — “exciting.” And how appropriate a sign-off it was for the soft spoken, hard swinging Indiana born fighter. Over the course of 54 fights, 20 of which took place under the bright lights of the UFC, Lytle never once let a loss, an opponent, or a chance at title contention stop him from entertaining his audience.

In the fight game, both fighters and fans often look at success with tunnel vision, believing that the belt around one’s waist alone defines it. But even with the greatest champions, we sometimes find ourselves questioning their willingness to take big risks for the relatively small reward of the fans’ respect. And though he never donned UFC gold, it goes without saying that “Lights Out” was never one to take the easy road to victory. From his legendary slugfests with Paul Kelly, Thiago Alves, and Marcus Davis to his impressive and creative submission victories over Matt Brown, Brian Foster, and Jason Gilliam, Lytle always put the fans’ delight before his own, throwing caution, his health, and perhaps his better judgment to the wind in order to ensure that we all got our money’s worth. And his final battle was no exception; though he had a clear grappling advantage over Hardy, Lytle opted to slug it out with the dangerous striker, choosing to end the fight by submission only when prompted to by Hardy himself.

“Are you not entertained? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!?” (Pic: MMARocks.pl)

Chris Lytle’s career has been something of an enigma. He’s a fan favorite that largely flies under the radar. He has a go-for-broke style that’s measured with solid technique and an enviable ground game. He sports a losing record in an organization that has awarded him a record number of post-fight performance bonuses. It’s the kind of engrossing tale that deserves a captivating, in depth interview to truly appreciate. But for a man who’s entire life is a lesson in self-sacrifice, there’s still much to give outside of the cage, and Lytle’s ready to turn the lights out on his fighting career.

Ariel Helwani broke the news in an interview with Lytle last night. Despite his participation in a sport where hype and self-promotion can help raise you to the top, it’s no surprise to hear “Lights Out” speaking only of others. “I’ve been fighting since ’98, fighting forever, a lot of it is just that I’m not doing my responsibilities like I need to at home. I feel like I’m not being the type of dad I want to. I got four kids and lots of times I feel just an immense sense of guilt for not being there in times when I should.””

More on Lytle’s plans for life outside of the cage after the jump.

(Photo via CagedInsider)

After a 9-4 UFC run that included impressive victories over Mark Munoz, Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Tim Boetsch, and Seth Petruzelli, light-heavyweight contender Matt Hamill has confirmed that he is retiring from MMA competition. The TUF 3 castmember and inspirational figure made the announcement on his website today, in the wake of his TKO loss to Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 133. As Hamill wrote:

Today is a sad day for me. After six years and 13 fights in the UFC I’m ready to hang up my gloves and retire from this amazing sport.

The UFC has been extremely good to me and given me an opportunity to make a great living. That exposure has allowed me options outside the Octagon as well. I just don’t have it in me to fight anymore and my last two performances have shown that.

(Video courtesy of AOL/MMAFighting)

MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani caught up with former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko to get his thoughts on a number of topics, not least of which being his upcoming Strikeforce bout with Dan Henderson on Saturday night.

According to “The Last Emperor,” although there was much talk about him walking away from MMA after back-to-back losses, he will only retire when it’s God’s will and not a minute before. Hopefully God doesn’t speak to him mid-match Saturday night like he did Paulo Filho during his last bout with Chael Sonnen.

When asked by Helwani to name any weaknesses he thought Henderson has, Fedor said he doesn’t think he has any and although he says that he has slimmed down a bit since his last fight with Antonio Silva, his weight is basically the same.

Check out another vid of Fedor working out in Chicago yesterday, after the jump.

(Props: MMADiehards)

You may know Kurt Pellegrino as the wacky-ass UFC fighter who will fart and shake-weight for your amusement, but listening to his new interview for MMA Diehards, it’s clear that his decision to walk away from the sport was something he took very seriously. As he explains, he didn’t want to be away from his new son in the same way that he missed spending time with his daughter due to the demands of training, and retirement has been on his mind since his fight against Rob Emerson back in February 2009. He also claims that he would still be retiring even if he won his last fight against Gleison Tibau. As he says at the 2:44 mark:

(“At least I’ve still got my modelling career.”)

Remember when Kurt Pellegrino said he would retire if he lost to George Sotiropoulos at UFC 116 and then decided that because he was injured in the bout and came close to finishing G-Sots in the closing minutes, he was taking a do-over on his vow?

Well, it looks like Pellegrino made the same pledge to himself prior to his UFC 128 fight with Gleison Tibau as ‘Batman’ announced today via his personal website that he has opted to not sign a new contract with the UFC following back-to-back losses in the Octagon. Instead, the 16-6 Point Pleasant, NJ lightweight who is 7-5 in the UFC says he will shift his focus to his jiu-jitsu students and on improving his jiu-jitsu, wrestling and boxing skills for if and when he decides to make a return to fighting.

Please tell us where this song ranks in the all-time “MMA Rap” list in the comments section.

According to our pals over at UFC.com, Antoni Hardonk has retired from the sport of MMA. Given that his last fight took place over a year-and-a-half ago, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, nor will it impact the heavyweight rankings, but it’s always slightly unpleasant to officially scratch any name off of the organization’s shallowest division.

(“Let’s see here: High kick, low kick, body kick, side check kick … yep, I think I’ve got them all scouted.” Pic: LasVegasSun)

Some three days later, I’m still not sure if it makes it better or worse that Randy Couture’s MMA career ended via insane, never-before-seen crane kick knockout. On one hand, it was certainly sad to see the legend’s body slump lifelessly to the canvas after the UFC’s resident Karate Kid blasted him in the face just a minute into the second round of their bout in Toronto. On the other hand, maybe the kick really just saved us nine more minutes of watching Couture take potshots to the face at the hands of notorious counterpuncher Lyoto Machida. It had taken just a few moments after all to realize this bout wasn’t going to go Couture’s way. All 47 of his hard-earned years were apparent as we watched “The Natural” hopelessly chase Machida around the Octagon like a dog trying to hunt down its own tail for the full extent of the first round. Granted, he didn’t look Chuck Liddell-bad or anything, but the performance was enough to confirm that it’s high time for Couture to walk away – and this time to stay gone.

It got us thinking. When you’re in the game for 14 years, compile a 19-11 career record, essentially shepherd a sport from its dark ages into the white hot light of mainstream acceptance – when you are arguably the most important athlete ever to compete in your chosen field – there are going to be a few ups and downs. In light of that and by way of career retrospective for a guy who absolutely deserves one, after the jump we give you our picks for the five greatest and five worst moments in the MMA career of Randy Couture, presented here in chronological order …

(YouTube/Us)

Despite the fact that not even the guy who signs the checks believes him, Randy Couture has his story and he’s sticking to it: He’s absolutely, definitely, 100 percent retiring after UFC 129 this weekend. You know what? Through the sheer repetition of it all, we’re actually starting to think he might be serious. What you see above is Couture’s Thursday appearance on Toronto’s CP24 “Breakfast” morning show, where he reiterates that his MMA career is about to enter its final 24 hours, talks up the UFC fan expo and admits he gets a little creeped-out when fans and other fighters treat him like some kind of ageless god.

Frankly, it’s nice to see an MMA athlete get such friendly and even-handed treatment from a mainstream television show. You taking notes, American TV? Things get a little dicey there near the end, when Couture and the CP24 host disagree on exactly how awesome it is to watch the UFC in HD, but they smooth things over by giving away from some tickets to the fan expo. Oh, and maybe the best part? There are some scattered highlights of him beating up James Toney. We’d almost forgotten how goofy that was.

(Gus. Fucking. Johnson. Pic: LA Times)

It was with a somewhat heavy heart we brought you news recently that women’s middleweight face-wrecker Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was playing footsie with WWE, assumedly about joining the company’s stable of “divas.” In light of that, we’re pleased to report that Santos tells Tatame this week that she’ll return to the world of legitimate fighting in August … except … not with Strikeforce. From what we’re able to gather from the written report, Cyborg’s contract has expired and she can’t fight in America until she re-ups with SF. Not sure why, maybe some sort of non-compete clause or because there is just no other place for top-level women’s MMA fighters to ply their trade on this god-forsaken continent.

Instead, she’s nearly set to fight at an event in Brazil, against an opponent to be named later. After the jump, Cyborg’s manager elaborates, plus some notes about the return of former UFC middleweight Ivan Salaverry.

(As if we need an excuse to use this picture. Props: ESPN)

Remember earlier this week when we discussed our worries that Randy Couture was already making qualifying statements about his planned retirement? Turns out, Dana White also has his doubts. To hear DW tell it, it sounds like Ol’ Captain America is starting to get more and more salty with all the questions he’s facing about his future this week and – true to form – during the official UFC 129 pre-fight presser the UFC Prez didn’t shy away from telling us how he really feels about Couture’s plan to make Saturday’s bout with Lyoto Machida his last. Props to MMA Fighting for the somewhat exhaustive quotes, which we trimmed down a bit.

“No,” White responded when asked if he believed Couture’s talk about hanging up his gloves. “I’m going to go out there and say it again. I know he was chirping, he was mad at me earlier, but … Randy Couture, I’ve been saying it and you guys have been standing in front of me when I said it. This guy is one of the top 10 best in the world … Who knows with this guy? I’m not saying it’s not time for him to retire but who knows? He’s such a competitor that every time there’s something out there and he says, ‘You know what? I think I can beat this guy,’ I think he’s going to come out and try to do it.”

It’s been less than a month since Ricardo Almeida announced his retirement from MMA competition, but so far, it seems to be treating him pretty well. Though nobody likes to go out on a loss, Almeida recognized it was time to hang it up. As he says in this revealing new video profile from Veazy Street Productions:

“I have a lot of things going on outside of my fighting career — my family, I have a jiu-jitsu school to take care of, I train other fighters — so perhaps I felt like I wasn’t giving 100% to everything and doing everything I could. To be in the Octagon not 100% focused, to be in there not giving 100% of everything that you have is a dangerous thing…I just felt that after the loss to Pyle it just pushed me a little lower on the ladder. I felt it was going to take too much time to climb back up. I can’t say that if I had won, that I would be retired…

I didn’t want to wait until I got knocked out 4-5 times in a row for people to tell me that I should quit. I wanted to walk out of it happy, I wanted to walk out of it healthy, I wanted to walk away with love, and I think the next step is to focus on myself as more of a diplomatic approach of being a coach, being an instructor, and being able to focus on my family.”