Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin announced his retirement from mixed martial arts Tuesday night.
The 38-year-old finished his MMA career with a record of 12-2 (UFC record of 4-2) with seven knockouts and five submissions.
https://twitter.com/ShaneCarwin/status/331934176372723712
Carwin had not competed since he lost a unanimous decision to Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 131 in Vancouver in July 2011. Since that fight, Carwin has been plagued with injuries.
He underwent back surgery late in 2011 before coaching The Ultimate Fighter 16 against Roy Nelson. The two were set to meet in December 2012 but Carwin injured his knee and was forced to withdraw from the bout.
Carwin, who is regarded as one of the hardest punchers in UFC history, made his UFC debut in May 2008 with a 44-second knockout of Christian Wellisch at UFC 84. He then picked up a 91-second KO win over Neil Wain and put Gabriel Gonzaga to sleep with punches in 69 seconds at UFC 96.
He became the UFC’s interim heavyweight champ by knocking out Frank Mir in the co-main event at UFC 111.
In his next bout he nearly became the unified heavyweight champion after battering then-champ Brock Lesnar in the first round of their UFC 116 headlining tilt. However, Lesnar survived and Carwin fatigued, leading to Lesnar locking in a fight-ending arm-triangle choke for the win.
While competing as a full-time fighter, Carwin also worked as an engineer in his native Colorado.
