Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort had been dropping hints about retirement for some time before announcing that an upcoming bout with fellow Brazilian star Lyoto Machida at UFC 224 in May of 2018 was to be his final swan song.
By that point the 41-year-old had been stopped by strikes in four of his previous six fights, but he still had a desire to fight and had even campaigned at one point for a veteran’s league in the UFC so that he could prolong his career.
As such, though he could easily have just retired on a high after a decision win over Nate Marquardt a year earlier, he couldn’t resist the urge to fight once more in his native Brazil.
That night Belfort would go out on his shield, with Machida landing a lightning quick front kick to the face that violently KO’d ‘The Phenom’ early in the second round.
This was the second time that Machida had sent a legend into retirement in such a fashion, while the finish was also eerily reminscent of the time Anderson Silva also KO’d Belfort with the same technique some 7 years earlier.
