There’s nothing quite as fun as watching a fighter you have hated for years get beat up so badly that you just know they will never come back from it. On the flip side however, it really burns when a fighter you’ve supported for a long time gets knocked around so viciously that you figure their career is probably done.
Each time a fighter steps into the octagon there is so much on the line. They just spent months training for the fight, they spent thousands of dollars on bringing in sparring partners and coaches, and every single fight has the potential to be their last. All it takes is one beating severe enough that they lose all their confidence, and possibly never decide to step into the octagon again.
Before we start this list there are 2 omissions that need to be explained. When Lyoto Machida crane-kicked Randy Couture’s head into the front row at UFC 129 Couture had already announced that win or lose it was his last fight.
Although Shane Carwin has not fought since taking a vicious beating from Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131, it was really a series of back injuries that forced Carwin to retire, and he might not stay retired for much longer anyway.
Here are the top five times a fighter has been beaten into retirement…
