Tag: Chael Sonnen

Michael Bisping Retires As A Living Legend

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In a move that was poetic for how closely it resembled his rise to the top, and in particular his reaching of the pinnacle of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, Michael Bisping surprisingly announced his retirement yesterday on his “Believe You Me Podcast”.

Although I wouldn’t call it completely shocking; I think most believed “The Count” had one more fight left in him. Maybe it would be Nick Diaz. Maybe a rubber match with Luke Rockhold. A fight with Rashad Evans seemed about halfway home at one point, but it just was not to be. After a career that stretched 39 fights over 13+ years, Bisping has decided to hang them up rather than, in his own words, risk further damage to both of his fight-afflicted eyes. Not a horrible decision by any stretch.

I myself have had an interesting relationship with Bisping. I think a lot of fans, at least American ones, did. Here was this abrasive, loud, cocky as hell Brit that was insulting Hendo before being posterized with the h-bomb. But slowly, over time, I like many others have come to love him. He is a talented, tough SOB that always brought the fight and was one of the first to use his charm and mic skills to get the fights he wanted, which you have to respect. Towards the end of his career, 4 years after getting wrestlefucked into oblivion by Chael Sonnen in a #1 contender’s fight, Bisping got his shot at the 185lb belt on 17 days notice. We all know what happened on that night in 2016. “Larry Lefthook”, as he came to call himself, clipped the champion Rockhold with a left before finishing him off to become the most unlikely champion since Matt Serra. I remember jumping off my couch shocked, and elated beyond belief. No one deserved that more than Michael Bisping.

He’d win one more, a rematch against Henderson, before losing the belt to GSP and then losing again on a wayyyy too quick turnaround to Kelvin Gastelum. And that would end up being it. It would have been so incredible to hear the opening chord progression to “Song 2” one more time and get that chill up your spine before seeing Bisping himself bellow the “woohoo” and begin his march to the Octagon. Especially in London, as planned? Forget about it.

Instead the winningest fighter in UFC history leaves now, on his own terms, with more than one career’s worth of ups and downs and memories in his pocket and on his walls. He’ll still be around the company, no doubt. I wouldn’t be shocked if he started splitting some MC duties with Joe Rogan and Dan Hardy. It is going to be strange though, knowing the Bishop’s Ping won’t ever put on the 4 ounce gloves again.

Happy trails, Buddeh.

Nate “The Great” Marquardt Retires After A Helluva Career

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natemarquardt.com – I have learned that I can trust God in every situation and need to put him first. After 22 years as an athlete in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, I believe God is calling me in another direction. When an athlete, a fighter in particular, retires, their career’s obituary is often fluffed with the notion that they retire with “nothing to prove”. Well, Nate Marquardt, a fighters fighter if there ever was one, hasn’t had anything to prove for quite awhile.

Marquardt began training when he was 15, wayyyy before it was a thing to do, in 1994. Although a great striker, he has always been known as an extremely talented and obscenely strong grappler. Just a bull of a guy when he gets his hands on you.

At just 21, he became the King of Pancrase (what they call a titleholder). For those not in the know, Pancrase is not only a promotion but an MMA rule set/school of thought of it’s own with a few quirky rules, and Marquardt was largely dominant in it from 2000 until 2005. That year he made the move to the UFC, winning his first four fights before losing a Middleweight Title Fight to a guy named Anderson Silva.

He’d fight in the UFC for another five years, losing only three times (twice in title elimination fights against Yushin Okami and Chael P. Sonnen),  before dropping to 170 for Strikeforce and beating Tyron Woodley for the Welterweight strapped that had been vacated by Nick Diaz. He’d lose the belt in his next fight to Tarec Saffiedine (what in the fuck happened to him?) in 2013 and things have gone pretty steadily downhill since, a KO over a reeling CB Dollaway in Marquardt’s fourth fight back at 185 his only win of note, if that. But he always came to fight. And there was always an air of possibility. His skill set was just too well-rounded and too high-level for there not to be.

In the end, you see a fight like his 2016 bout against Thiago Santos, where a reputable vet can have all the guile in the world and still be made mincemeat of by a younger, explosive, hungry fighter like “Maretta”, and you realize it’s probably time to move on.

Unbeknownst to me, and probably many more, Marquardt has become really deep in his faith and says in the blog posted above he possibly will go into sports ministry, probably with an MMA/martial arts flavor. He’ll still train and teach MMA seminars, as it seems to never really leave you. To put it simply, Nate Marquardt is leaving to be ‘The Great” at something else, with a greater purpose. He has nothing left to prove, after all.