And today, it looks like that trail has finally come to an end.
Scheduled to take on Anthony Hamilton in the co-main event of UFC Seoul on November 28th, Cro Cop announced this morning that he had suffered a shoulder injury in training, then abruptly re-retired.
I tried to save my shoulder injury and repair in all possible ways. Daily therapies, injections of blood plasma and various cocktails of drugs. [Because of] daily training, the injury only worsened. Part of my muscle snapped, my shoulder has a lot of fluid, and the greatest danger is that the tendon ruptured, and then again in the operation.
Even more unfortunate was the follow-up statement Filipovic released on his website, which confirmed that the injury was much more than a temporary setback in the 2015-2016 Cro Cop Revenge Tour.
I am aware that I have come to the end of my martial times, but training with pain I want no longer. My body is battered by countless trainings, I collected nine operations, the body has become prone to injury, after each workout I put ice on my knee operated on because it’s filled with fluid, therapies twice a week. The next fight would be 80th professional and that is a lot, especially in the competition: K-1, Pride, IGF, UFC. The biggest problem will be my adaptation to “civilian life”, without two workouts a day and the eternal journey around the world, and that whouldn’t fall so hard. I will train as long as I live because it’s my life, but not at this rate and I’m glad in some way.
This is not a temporary decision because I was unhappy due to all of that, but it’s my final decision and it’s best for me. Sooner or later the time comes when a man has to think on the health. I had a really long and great career and I believe I left a deep mark in the martial arts, in a free fight and in K-1 and I have no regrets. Thanks to everyone who followed me and supported me, but for me there remains beautiful memories.
We’ve already paid tribute to Cro Cop on more occasion than one, so we’ll simply wrap things up by congratulating Mirko on all he’s accomplished, both in and outside of the cage. It’d be hard to think of a more fitting way for him to go out than with a victory over the man who derailed his career some 8 years ago, and we hope that Mirko finds happiness in whatever awaits him next.
I have mixed feelings. I’m sad for leaving but happy with this new job in the UFC. I remember when I met [Junior dos Santos], he was brave in training, and before his UFC debut against the current champion Fabricio Werdum, I told Dana White to watch for his uppercut. And that’s how he beat him. I have good eyes for new talent, and I will look for new talents in this new generation.
I have mixed feelings. I’m sad for leaving but happy with this new job in the UFC. I remember when I met [Junior dos Santos], he was brave in training, and before his UFC debut against the current champion Fabricio Werdum, I told Dana White to watch for his uppercut. And that’s how he beat him. I have good eyes for new talent, and I will look for new talents in this new generation.
To recap Big Nog’s career would be both incredibly tasking and redundant — from the truck accident that nearly took his life as a child to his now infamous fights with the like of Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, and Josh Barnett in Pride, right up to the moment he captured the UFC interim heavyweight title over Tim Sylvia (the absolutely beautiful misdirection displayed in that finishing sequence will forever be a standout moment in my mental MMA bank), Nogueira rose to become on of the most respected, the most feared, and simultaneously most beloved figures in the sport. He’s recovered from more haymakers, head kicks, thrashings, and supposedly career-ending injuries than any fight has or ever will recover from, and he did it with complete, unquestioning resolve.
Remember when Big Nog kicked Dave Herman’s ass with a broken rib? Or when he got piledriven by big, bad, 150-pound-weight-advantage Bob Sapp, only to submit him the second round? How bout his brawl with Randy Couture at UFC 102, a classic in the “Old Dudes Just Throwin’ Down” canon? That was 6 years ago, you guys! These are the kind of moments that will forever define the career of a man whose face belongs on the Mount Rushmore of MMA, or hell, just the regular old Mount Rushmore.
In a sport that has seen countless, redefining changes — from to the entrance of smaller and women’s weight classes to actual, corporate sponsorships — Antonio Nogueira has arguably been its greatest constant. But there’s no arguing that his best days as a fighter are behind him, which is why it’s great to hear that he’s retiring before anymore damage can be done. What left does he have to prove, after all?
I started fighting in 1999, and was at the top 3 of the division until 2008. It’s an entire life. I have constant pain, fought guys heavier than this 265 pounds limit today. I love the training routine but I have to be 100 percent to fight.
I’ve always had a passion to follow the development of new athletes and that’s what I intend to continue doing. I want to help further the spread of MMA around the world and give my contribution to the emergence and development of young talent. I appreciate all the confidence that Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta have in me, and I believe we will reach big results together. I know that I can, and will, contribute much to the growth of our sport outside of the Octagon.
It’s hard to imagine Big Nog being anything less than stellar in his new position, so pay your respects to the man’s epic career (and share your favorite Big Nog moments) in the comments section.
There was a time, not too long ago, when Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was considered indestructible. Beatable maybe, but finishable? Please. What was Fedor or Cro Cop or Werdum going to do to Big Nog that a Mac truck hadn’t already done? You could drop an anvil on this guy’s face, an anvil I tells ya, and his jaw would split the sumbitch in half like a coconut.
Lately, however, Nogueira has looked something less than invincible in the octagon. He’s looked slow, tired, vulnerable. That he’s been finished in all five of his past losses (alongside which he has earned just three wins) further points to his ever-deteriorating skillset, with his most recent knockout loss to Roy Nelson being a particularly tough pill to swallow. Or even look at. Yet he forges ahead, despite near constant protests by fans, media members, and most likely his family to call it quits.
I know, you’ve heard this all before — hell, I’ve probably lamented Nog’s stubbornness a couple dozen times by now. But today brings good news, Potato Nation! In an interview with Ag.Fight (via MMAFighting), “Minotauro” finally discussed his retirement! Hallelujer!!
And the best news is…it’s not happening as soon it should, actually…
(via Nog’s Instagram)
There was a time, not too long ago, when Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was considered indestructible. Beatable maybe, but finishable? Please. What was Fedor or Cro Cop or Werdum going to do to Big Nog that a Mac truck hadn’t already done? You could drop an anvil on this guy’s face, an anvil I tells ya, and his jaw would split the sumbitch in half like a coconut.
Lately, however, Nogueira has looked something less than invincible in the octagon. He’s looked slow, tired, vulnerable. That he’s been finished in all five of his past losses (alongside which he has earned just three wins) further points to his ever-deteriorating skillset, with his most recent knockout loss to Roy Nelson being a particularly tough pill to swallow. Or even look at. Yet he forges ahead, despite near constant protests by fans, media members, and most likely his family to call it quits.
I know, you’ve heard this all before — hell, I’ve probably lamented Nog’s stubbornness a couple dozen times by now. But today brings good news, Potato Nation! In an interview with Ag.Fight (via MMAFighting), “Minotauro” finally discussed his retirement! Hallelujer!!
And the best news is…it’s not happening as soon it should, actually:
I know I won’t fight forever. I’m focused on my gym’s business now. It’s a beautiful work, we have 9,000 students, 32 gyms. … I plan to end my career by the end of the next year, I believe. One more year. It’s until the point my body can handle.
So many injuries, I’m dedicating to other things now. I will decide when the time comes. I have two more fights in my contract, and then I’ll stop (fighting).
Well, I guess that’s the best we’re gonna get.
While Nogueira’s decision to fulfill his contract is an honorable one — in that old timey, “go down with the ship” sense of the term — I can’t help but think that the string of injuries he is currently dealing with might tie in with the whole “point my body can handle” thing he was talking about. Then again, he’s only 38 years old, and if Gray Maynard is just “a young kid” at 35 (according to Dana White), maybe Nogueira still has some good years left in him just waiting to get out!
You know what, fuck it. I’m back on Team Big Nog, baby! I say wait ’till he heals up and pair him against Alistair Overeem! YOU HEAR THAT, REEM? YOUR DAY OF RECKONING FOR HURTING JON JONES IS COMING!!! YEE HAW!!!!
The last time we saw Sean Sherk on the Octagon, he was getting his hand raised following a questionable decision victory against Evan Dunham at UFC 119. In the three years since then, Sherk has been busy rehabbing old injuries and waiting for his next move. That next move never came, and the former lightweight champion steadily faded out of relevance while the lightweight division he helped revive continued to grow deeper and more prominent.
It’s possible that you assumed Sean Sherk — who turned 40 last month — was already retired, but “The Muscle Shark” (man, that nickname) didn’t make it official until yesterday, when he announced his departure from the sport on The MMA Hour. A press release on TrainingMask.com adds that “Sherk plans to maintain his involvement at Training Mask while coaching MMA, and teaching seminars. Sherk is also continuing a successful career in real estate investment.”
Sherk leaves behind a career-record of 36-4-1 dating back to 1999, including wins over Nick Diaz, Kenny Florian, Tyson Griffin, Hermes Franca, and Karo Parisyan, and a UFC lightweight title reign that lasted from October 2006 to December 2007. His only losses came against long-reigning UFC champions: Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar.
But despite his accomplishments, Sean Sherk was never a fan favorite. Much of that could be blamed on his methodical, slow-grind wrestling approach to fighting — a style that crowds can’t help booing, and which Sherk never really evolved beyond. And unfortunately, his stint as a UFC champion was also the most controversial period of his career.
The last time we saw Sean Sherk on the Octagon, he was getting his hand raised following a questionable decision victory against Evan Dunham at UFC 119. In the three years since then, Sherk has been busy rehabbing old injuries and waiting for his next move. That next move never came, and the former lightweight champion steadily faded out of relevance while the lightweight division he helped revive continued to grow deeper and more prominent.
It’s possible that you assumed Sean Sherk — who turned 40 last month — was already retired, but “The Muscle Shark” (man, that nickname) didn’t make it official until yesterday, when he announced his departure from the sport on The MMA Hour. A press release on TrainingMask.com adds that “Sherk plans to maintain his involvement at Training Mask while coaching MMA, and teaching seminars. Sherk is also continuing a successful career in real estate investment.”
Sherk leaves behind a career-record of 36-4-1 dating back to 1999, including wins over Nick Diaz, Kenny Florian, Tyson Griffin, Hermes Franca, and Karo Parisyan, and a UFC lightweight title reign that lasted from October 2006 to December 2007. His only losses came against long-reigning UFC champions: Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar.
But despite his accomplishments, Sean Sherk was never a fan favorite. Much of that could be blamed on his methodical, slow-grind wrestling approach to fighting — a style that crowds can’t help booing, and which Sherk never really evolved beyond. And unfortunately, his stint as a UFC champion was also the most controversial period of his career.
After going 4-2 in the UFC as a welterweight — and losing a decision to Matt Hughes in a 170-pound title challenge at UFC 42 — Sherk dropped to 155 pounds to compete for the UFC’s re-launched lightweight title, which had laid dormant for over four years. Sherk met Kenny Florian for the vacant belt at UFC 64, and over-powered Ken-Flo to a bloody decision victory.
Despite Sherk maintaining he was 100% innocent, the perception of PED use haunted him. As Ben Fowlkeswrote on this site back in May 2008:
Let’s imagine, for the sake of argument, that you’re Sean Sherk and you know for certain that you’ve never used an illegal substance in your life. Let’s say that the lab somehow tainted your sample, and it came up positive. Imagining that to be true, what could you possibly do to clear your name now? You know you’re innocent, but here you are walking around with a chiseled physique, a positive steroid test, with a nickname like “The Muscle Shark” and trying to tell people that it’s not what it looks like.
While Sherk rode out his suspension, the UFC stripped him of his title, and let BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson fight for the lightweight belt, which was now vacant once again. Penn tore through Stevenson, and when it was time for Sherk to return at UFC 84, Penn wasted him too. The startling difference in talent-level between Sherk and Penn displayed in that fight made it seem as if Sherk had just been keeping the belt warm for Penn the entire time.
Sherk never came close to title contention again. He won a decision against Tyson Griffin in his next fight at UFC 90, in October 2008, but then lost to Frankie Edgar the following year, and pulled out of three consecutive fights due to injuries. Sherk successfully made it to the cage against Evan Dunham in September 2010, and despite scoring a decision victory, the fight was only memorable for how unpopular the result was. (Fightmetric scored it 29-28 for Dunham, and UFC president Dana White publicly echoed that sentiment.)
Since 2011, Sherk has popped up here and there to discuss his hopes for a comeback, but wasn’t interested in fighting “some chump who needs some fame.” Time passed, and Sherk’s interests never matched up with the UFC’s. By 2013, the Muscle Shark had become a forgotten man. And at some point, he realized that his chances of becoming a champion — or even a top contender — had permanently passed him by.
And so, Sean Sherk’s career ends anti-climatically. There was no “farewell fight,” no dramatic speech in the Octagon thanking the fans for whatever support they spared him. He didn’t go out on top, but he didn’t go out on the bottom either. He was a transitional champion who helped excavate a gold belt from the ruins, then passed it to the next guy. Maybe you didn’t love him, but hopefully you respected him.
MMAWeekly is reporting that the TUF 3 alum and 14-fight UFC veteran is currently in talks to face Brazilian slugger Thiago Silva at the tentatively-titled “Fight Night 29” card that goes down on October 9th. The only other fight currently booked for the card is Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim.
As much as we respect Hamill’s skills both inside the octagon and around the opposite sex, this matchup worries us, and not just because Brazilians are unstoppable killing machines when fighting in the motherland. Without getting into the age old debate of whether or not retirement should be up to the fighter and the fighter alone, can we all just agree that Hamill’s prime years in the spotlight have come and gone?
MMAWeekly is reporting that the TUF 3 alum and 14-fight UFC veteran is currently in talks to face Brazilian slugger Thiago Silva at the tentatively-titled “Fight Night 29″ card that goes down on October 9th. The only other fight currently booked for the card is Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim.
As much as we respect Hamill’s skills both inside the octagon and around the opposite sex, this matchup worries us, and not just because Brazilians are unstoppable killing machines when fighting in the motherland. Without getting into the age old debate of whether or not retirement should be up to the fighter and the fighter alone, can we all just agree that Hamill’s prime years in the spotlight have come and gone? He’s getting up there in age, he’s fighting in a division currently being cleaned out by the man who did this to him and he looked like a shadow of his former self against Hollett (who has since been fired, BTW). Could ring rust have been at least partially responsible for that last one? Sure, we’ll give him that, but that doesn’t change what we’ve come to know about his place in the current light heavyweight landscape.
Then again, maybe title glory isn’t what Hamill is trying to capture. Maybe the Gustafsson loss (and the Hollett win, for that matter) left a bad taste in his mouth and he’s just seeking a “good” win to go out on. Maybe he re-retires after the Silva fight whether he loses or wins. Only Hamill could tell us what he’s after, but doesn’t pairing him with Silva seem a little…soon?
Granted, Silva just managed to score his first win in 4 years and has seen so many ups and downs (mostly downs) lately that Hamill might come out the winner (or at least the NC not-loser) regardless of how he actually fares. One thing’s for sure; unless Hamill has made some tremendous improvements to his plodding stand up, he’s going to lose a lot of brain cells along the way.
(*Another* new castmember? This show has officially jumped the shark.)
Wow.
When it was announced earlier today that Ariel Helwani would be hosting a special edition of The MMA Hour in which “a former champion, and one of the most popular names in the sport, will make a special announcement,” speculation began to light up the interwebs like it was a Simi Valley fireworks show. Was Brock Lesnar announcing his return to the sport? Was Bellator dumb enough to actually buy into Tito Ortiz’s “almost healthy” bait-n-switch? WAS ANDERSON SILVA ABOUT TO RETIRE?!
Simply put; no (thank God), not yet, and are you fucking kidding me? It turns out that the “former champion” is question was actually former WEC light heavyweight champ Brian Stann, who shockingly announced his retirement from the sport following his second round KO loss to Wanderlei Silva at UFC on FUEL 8 last March. Citing a new daughter on the way (his third) as well as a concern for long term injuries related to not only his MMA career but his military career and previous football experience among his reasons for calling it quits, Stann was typically composed and grateful, ensuring Helwani that “I leave fighting having taken more from mixed martial arts than I ever gave.”
(*Another* new castmember? This show has officially jumped the shark.)
Wow.
When it was announced earlier today that Ariel Helwani would be hosting a special edition of The MMA Hour in which “a former champion, and one of the most popular names in the sport, will make a special announcement,” speculation began to light up the interwebs like it was a Simi Valley fireworks show. Was Brock Lesnar announcing his return to the sport? Was Bellator dumb enough to actually buy into Tito Ortiz’s “almost healthy” bait-n-switch? WAS ANDERSON SILVA ABOUT TO RETIRE?!
Simply put; no (thank God), not yet, and are you fucking kidding me? It turns out that the “former champion” is question was actually former WEC light heavyweight champ Brian Stann, who shockingly announced his retirement from the sport following his second round KO loss to Wanderlei Silva at UFC on FUEL 8 last March. Citing a new daughter on the way (his third) as well as a concern for long term injuries related to not only his MMA career but his military career and previous football experience among his reasons for calling it quits, Stann was typically composed and grateful, ensuring Helwani that “I leave fighting having taken more from mixed martial arts than I ever gave.”
When asked if his loss to Silvaplayed any role in his decision, Stann was unapologetic and incredibly straightforward. “Yes, it did….when I lost that fight and I looked at all the time I invested in it, I knew it was time.”
Although his final clash ended in defeat, it’s hard to imagine a better fight for “all-American” to go out on then his epic slugfest with “The Axe Murderer.” The fight encapsulated everything we’ve come to know and love about both Stann and Silva, and was the first highlight that Stann listed when prompted by Helwani.
Fighting in Japan in a main event against Wanderlei Silva, who I remember looking up on the internet when I was in the Marines, was pretty cool. When I look back now I’m like ‘Man. Never in a million years did I think I was gonna fight that guy in a main event in Japan. Never.’
In addition to his future role providing analysis for ACC college football on Fox Sports South, Stann assured Helwani that he would continue to work with the UFC, both behind-the-scenes and at his regular pundit gigs on FOX and FUEL TV.
