Swick (photo) retired from MMA. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
Another veteran of the first edition of reality show The Ultimate Fighter has hung up his gloves. Mike Swick announced that he will not fight again after being defeated in his last Octagon appearance on July 11 at UFC 189.
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Swick, now 36 years old, participated in the historic inaugural edition of the program, in early 2005, which revealed names such as Forrest griffin, Josh koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Stephan bonnar, Kenny Florian e Chris Leben. At the time, still competing as light heavyweight, Swick reached the semifinals, losing to Bonnar.
The performance guaranteed that Swick was hired by the UFC, where he had 15 fights, ten wins and five losses. He came close to fighting for the belt in 2009, but ended up losing to Dan Hardy; After that, he suffered a few more losses, including the last one, to Alex Garcia, at UFC 189.
“The fight on July 11th, at UFC 189, was officially my last. I was healthy and injury-free for the first time in eight years, but I still couldn't impose my game. There comes a time when every fighter realizes that he is older and that he no longer performs what he once did. I want to recognize this and stick to what I've always said, that I would retire when I felt I'd done it. It’s not fair to the UFC, the fans and my family and friends to continue pursuing this career with performances I’m not proud of,” wrote Swick on his personal Facebook.
As a result, the only TUF 1 veteran still active in the UFC is Diego Sanchez, who became champion in the middleweight division. Another who recently fought in the octagon, Josh koscheck announced that he will start fighting for Bellator.
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