MMA veteran Vladimir Matyushenko announces his retirement

Matyushenko (photo) will retire after his next fight. Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Vladimir Matyushenko announced that he will retire from MMA after his next fight. The 43-year-old fighter will face Joey Beltran at Bellator on April 11, and guaranteed that this will be his last commitment as an athlete.

The announcement was made discreetly during an interview with former fighter Frank Trigg. “It’s the last fight, the last fight. It doesn't matter if I win or lose. That’s it,” said the veteran.

Regarding the fight, Matyushenko assured that he will try to follow his usual strategy. “He’s a fighter, but so what? He has a decent game. It's not the best at short or medium range, so if I clinch, I'll feel comfortable. I will fall, I will use groud-and-pound. That’s the tactic,” he said.

With this, Matyushenko will put an end to an almost 17-year career in MMA. With stints at UFC, IFL and even Jungle Fight, the Belarusian has already surpassed names like Rogério Minotouro, Pedro Rizzo and Alexandre “Cacareco”. In 2001, he challenged for the UFC light heavyweight belt, but was defeated by the then champion, Tito Ortiz. In his last stint with the organization, he suffered defeats to Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafson e Ryan bader.

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