Mike Swick returned to the octagon earlier this month for the first time in over two years and that will be the last fight time we see him in the octagon as Swick announced his retirement today.
Swick (15-6) announced his retirement on his Facebook page following his lost to Alex Garcia last week.
The Ultimate Fighter alum went into detail on his decision to call it a career and stated it’s unfair to UFC, fans, and his family to keep chasing his career when he puts on these type of performances.
July 11th 2015 at UFC 189 was officially my final fight. I was healthy and injury free for the first time in 8 years but still couldn’t put my game together. There comes a time when every fighter realizes he is older and not what he use to be and I want to acknowledge this and stay true and honest to what I have always said, that I will leave when I know I am done. It’s a hard thing to do considering everyone wants to go out on top, unfortunately when your actually on top, you never wanna go out.
It’s unfair to the UFC, the fans and to my family and friends for me to keep chasing this career while giving performances that I am not proud of.
I remember sitting in class during high school(’98) watching UFC’s with the football team during off season and telling them I will be there one day. Now at 36 years old, I have been contracted with the UFC going on 11 years and it has completely changed my life. I am very proud to have fought and been a part of this organization for so long.
Though I am retiring from fighting, I will stay a big part of this sport as I continue to build fighters and grow my dream gym AKA Thailand. This gym is a massive project that has taken us 5 years to put together and once we are done, it will be the largest and most unique fight gym in the world. I am so proud to have such a great team of people behind it and I will now give my full effort towards its progress and the business surrounding it.
I want to thank everyone out there who has helped me over the years… My family and friends, Javier Mendez/Team AKA/AKA Thailand and all the coaches and fighters that have been a part of them, the UFC, all my sponsors, and finally the wonderful fans that have made this sport so great! It is because of all of you, that I was allowed to live my dream and that I will now be able to continue living it after my fighting career.
I also want to thank the haters and negative people who have entered my life from time to time. The fire that you guys created inside me is what has maybe helped me the most in my attempts to prove you wrong and succeed through your doubts. Thanks for being that fuel when I was running low on gas.
Swick will finish his career with a record of 10-5 in the UFC and won knockout of the night bonuses against Ben Saunders and DaMarques Johnson. Overall, eight of his fifteen wins came by TKO/KO and four of those wins came in the first round.