(Obligatory gif of Bosse crushing Houston Alexander. You’re welcome.)
Less than a month after signing a multi-fight deal with the UFC, former semi-pro hockey enforcer turned mixed martial arts knockout artist Steve Bosse is calling it quits.
Bosse, who was scheduled to face Ryan Jimmo at the TUF Nations Finale on April 16th until a shoulder injury forced him off the card, cited a recent rash of injuries as the reason for his decision:
“My body is talking to me,” Bosse told Canadian publication La Presse. “It’s time that I make the right decision.”
The former hockey enforcer, who has allegedly partaken in over 200 hockey fights, will retire with a record of 10-1 and wins over UFC veterans Wes Sims, Marvin Eastman, and Houston Alexander (the last of which came via hellacious standing elbow KO, in case you weren’t aware). Additionally, word has it that Bosse holds the distinct honor of being the only hockey player who ever took off his skate and tried to stab someone with it.
But there is a silver lining to be found in all this, at least for Bosse. The 11 fight MMA veteran also told La Presse that he will now pursue work as a firefighter, and that his decision to step away was also influenced by the upswing his personal life has recently taken.
“When I started in hockey, I had rage in me,” he said. “This sport helped me channel that. It was my therapy. Today, that rage is no longer in me. Today, I’m doing well. I don’t feel the need to fight anymore, to go make war.”
Thanks for the memories, Steve. Enjoy that lucrative golf-career and Bob Barker ass-whooping you are inevitably destined for.
To honor Bosse’s brief-yet-violent run as an MMA fighter, here is once again footage of him putting Houston Alexander to bed.
Glorious. Absolutely glorious.
