Seth Petruzelli was defeated by knockout in the main event of Bellator 96 on Wednesday night in Oklahoma and the fighter has announced on Twitter that he is retiring from the sport.
“I want to thank my family, friends, fiancé and fans for being by my side these past 13 years plus of my MMA career,” Petruzelli tweeted. “Every time I fought it was to please and excite you but most of all make you proud of me.”
“Up until a couple years ago it pleased and excited me as well. That is where I went wrong, for the past couple years I have been fighting for the wrong reasons, I don’t have the desire or drive to fight like I used to and the past couple fights have shown it. So at this point in my life I would like to officially announce my retirement from the sport of MMA.”
“Competing has been a part of my life since I was 6 years old, now I would like to put more of an effort into seeing my students/fighters do the same and making my gym grow and flourish. MMA has taken me around the world, let me meet the best and worst of people and made me feel like the brightest star but also like a black hole at times and I have no regrets because I did it all my way.”
Petruzelli (14-8) will be remembered by many mixed martial arts fans as the fighter who stepped up on just a couple of hours notice and defeated Kimbo Slice by TKO in Elite XC on CBS. After defeating Kimbo, he went 4-4 and has lost back to back fights in Bellator. He will finish his career with 12 knockout wins and all of those wins came in the first round.