Written by Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Stipe Miocic issued a lengthy statement Monday after his retirement in the Octagon at UFC 309 on Saturday night.
The former UFC heavyweight champion, who posted a 20-5 record in his pro career, thanked his coaches, his opponents, and his wife in the social media post.
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!
Miocic ended his career as the greatest UFC heavyweight champion. He set the record for most heavyweight title defenses with four when he defeated Daniel Cormier with a unanimous decision win at UFC 252 on Aug. 18, 2022. He ended his career with two straight knockout losses to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 and Jon Jones at UFC 309..