Seth Petruzelli "The Kimbo Killer" Follows Renato "Babalu" Sobral into Retirement
Seth Petruzelli retires from fighting at age 33 following his Bellator 96 knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal on June 19.
He follows Renato "Babalu" Sobral into retirement. Babalu retired in the cage following his Bellator 96 loss to Jacob Noe.
Petruzelli (14-8) made the announcement via his Facebook page on Friday.
“I want to thank my family, friends, fiancé and fans for being by my side these past 13 years plus of my MMA career. Every time I fought it was to please and excite you but most of all make you proud of me. Up until a couple years ago it pleased and excited me as well. That is where I went wrong, for the past couple years I have been fighting for the wrong reasons, I don’t have the desire or drive to fight like I used to and the past couple fights have shown it,” Petruzelli posted.
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“So at this point in my life I would like to officially announce my retirement from the sport of MMA. Competing has been a part of my life since I was 6 years old, now I would like to put more of an effort into seeing my students/fighters do the same and making my gym grow and flourish. MMA has taken me around the world, let me meet the best and worst of people and made me feel like the brightest star but also like a black hole at times. ..and I have no regrets because I did it all my way,” read his statement.
Petruzelli made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2000. He appeared on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter as a heavyweight, advancing to the semifinal round before being defeated by Brad Imes.
He fought four times in the UFC, losing all four outings, but earned two Fight of the Night awards. His last UFC appearance was at UFC 122 in November 2010.
Formerly nicknamed “The Silverback,” Petruzelli is most known for his 14-second knockout of Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson in the now defunct EliteXC organization. It was Slice’s first career loss, and Petruzelli has been known as “The Kimbo Killer” since that October night in 2008.
Petruzelli also competed in kickboxing with a 0-3 record in his three professional bouts.
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