Jimi Manuwa Hangs Up His Gloves

Jimi Manuwa is the fourth big name in MMA to have retired in the last few days. In the last hour, ‘Poster Boy’ has taken to Instagram to announce that he is retiring from the sport.

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I came to London from Nigeria when i was 10 yrs old in 1990. I grew up in south London and had crazy teenage years filled with fights and life lessons. In 2006 i was 26 years old and i discovered the ufc while flicking through the sports channels late at night , it immediately captured me , the likes of rampage jackson, tito ortiz , randy couture , shogun were my favourite fighters and i became a fan instantly. i’d never set foot in any martial arts gym in my life and neither didn’t have any plans to. In 2008 i was 28 years old and i said to myself that i’m gonna fight for the ufc. i got off my sofa and started training muay thai and bjj , i had no martial arts experience but i was a tough cunt from south london. Martial arts immediately put more structure and discipline into my crazy life and helped me become a much better person than i was previously. I had my first pro fight after 2 weeks training and i won. within the first 2 years i was uk number 1, but the goal was to fight for the ufc. I won all my fights by ko and in 2012 i accepted a ufc contract after turning them down twice with an 11-0 record all knockouts. Ive had a great martial arts career and the last 4 fights have been tough losses to take not only for myself but for my family who is always first, ive given out a mostly knockouts and taken a few myself , that’s my fan loving style but it takes a toll on the body especially concussions which are not visible to the eye i’ve met a lot of great people along the way and travelled the world but it’s time to leave this chapter and on to the next one because there’s a life after fighting and i feel it’s my obligation to give more to combat sports which i love dearly outside of fighting. Thank you @danawhite and the @ufc for letting me showcase my skills and thank you to all my coaches and training partners who have helped and taught me along the way , much love to the fans and last but not least much love to my dear family who together we made this dream a reality. Jimi POSTERBOY Manuwa PB1 ? … stay tuned ?

A post shared by Jimi Manuwa (@pb1_) on

The decision comes after losing to Aleksander Raki this past weekend at UFC Stockholm. It was the 39 year old’s fourth straight loss. Before those four losses, Manuwa won seventeen of his first nineteen pro fights. Fifteen of those wins coming by way of KO or TKO.

In the last few days, we’ve seen Alexander Gustafsson retire immediately after his loss to Anthony Smith in the UFC Stockholm main event.

Germany’s Nick Hein then retired the following day.

And earlier today, the former Strikeforce champion Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal also decided to hang up his gloves.

We wish all four the best of luck in the next chapters in their lives.


See also:

Nate Diaz Hits Out At Khabib, McGregor And The UFC

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