Longtime MMA veteran Yves Edwards, who helped establish the UFC Lightweight division in its’ formative years, officially announced his retirement via social media on Sunday evening.
Edwards (42-22-1, 1 NC) broke onto the MMA scene in 1997 and has fought for virtually every major MMA promotion in history, including UFC, PRIDE, WEC, EliteXC, Bellator and Strikeforce.
The founder of his own style known as “Thug-Jitsu,” Edwards has gone on a slump over the past several years, compiling a record of 4-6 with one “no-contest” since returning to the UFC back in late-2010. His last MMA victory came back in December of 2012, as he knocked out MMA veteran Jeremy Stephens at the fifth UFC On FOX event.
Below is the announcement Edwards made regarding his official retirement from the sport.
I’ve thought about how to say this for a week now, but there’s no better way than to just do it. So here goes; 1st I’d like to say thank you to all the people that I’ve met through and because of fighting, friends, training partners, coaches, fight fans, doctors and even some promoters/matchmakers. A lot of you guys have always shown me nothing but love and I really appreciate that.
Fighting has been a part of my life ever since I was 17 and that makes this a hard pill to swallow but it’s time for me to end this chapter and move on to the next part of my life. So thank you again to all the people that have supported me through this, whether it was through cheers, training, coaching or anything else at all.
Yves
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