UFC welterweight Brian Melancon announced on Wednesday that he’s retiring from mixed martial arts after doctors discovered an issue with his kidneys.
Melancon announced the news via a Facebook post:
It has been announced, I am sad to say that my fight career is over. I have been having kidney problems that have gotten much worse recently and just found out that my kidney function has dropped to 47%. If I continue to train, fight, and cut weight then I run the risk of permanent damage. I have been advised by my Specialist to retire and move on and that is what I will be doing. This is not how I wanted to go out, but I have to believe that God has another path for me. Thanks to all of you who supported me throughout my career.
Melancon (7-3, 1-1 UFC) competed for Legacy Fighting Championships, Bellator and Strikeforce before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship earlier this year. He made his debut with the promotion at UFC 162, where he earned an emphatic knockout win over Seth Baczynski with just one second left in the first round. It was the biggest and most important win of his career.
Melancon returned a little more than a month later, losing to TUF 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum.
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