An emotional [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] on Monday opened up on his decision to retire after UFC 309.
Miocic (20-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) hung up his gloves after a third-round TKO loss to heavyweight champion Jon Jones in Saturday’s main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The former two-time UFC heavyweight champion took to Instagram to thank his team, family, and fans for his incredible journey, which led to him being considered arguably the greatest in the division’s history.
“Let me start this post by saying I am good. Been through a lot worse. I hope everybody enjoyed the show on Saturday. What an incredible way go out! I started this journey fighting in local bowling alleys & ended it selling out Madison Square Garden. It truly doesn’t get batter than that. Sorry I don’t get the W, but you can’t get em all. Sometimes it’s not your night, that is the nature of the beast. You can’t plan a perfect ending in this sport, but I guess the perfect ending is to have been lucky enough to do it at all. You all have given me so much, and I hope I did you all proud. Croatia & Cleveland Ohio especially. I felt all of you with me at every battle.
“To Marcus Marinelli and the Strongstyle team. We started together, we finished together. We cried together & we bled together. If people only knew the whole story of everything we have been through… we could write a pretty badass novel. There is nobody else I would have shared this journey with… the best part is that we are family forever… Marcus, I know my father has passed. But I also know he appreciates you stepping in and being the father figure I needed in my life.
“We had a hell of a run coach. You dedicated years of your life to me. We made history based on a dream and you had a vision. Now we have more time to drink wine and play euchre while making fun of Bobby because he is terrible at defending him self. To my opponents, thank you all. I learned something from every single one of you. It was a honor to go to war brothers.
“To my wife, you are my rock. The ship doesn’t sail without you. You sacrificed so much for this dream and I love you. God knew I needed you & you motivate me more than any one! I will miss hanging up on you on Embedded, but there’s YouTube for that. To my kids, everything I have ever done is all for the two of you. To my Mom, I know this isn’t the career you would have chose for me. But, you have always been in my corner since day one.. it was me & you. To my Vayner sports family, you guys are the best in the business!
“And finally to the fans, you guys are the heartbeat of this sport. You are what makes the MMA amazing! Without you, we fighters don’t even exist. The rush you gave me walking down to that octagon is forever engraved in my memory! Thank you for that I’m not goin anywhere. Excited to start some new projects, bring back the podcast, break down all my fights & share my reality with you! Until my next fight……. just kidding, just kidding! Forever grateful. It’s been a hell of a ride!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCiIR7wyVaB/
In his first reign as UFC heavyweight champion, Miocic defended his title a record three times, scoring wins over Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and Francis Ngannou. His two most recent wins came in back-to-back title fights against Daniel Cormier.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.