After suffering a first-round submission defeat to Gegard Mousasi at Strikeforce: "Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" on Jan. 12, 2013, it appears Mike Kyle is set to retire from mixed martial arts (MMA).
News of Kyle's retirement was passed along by Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, who was on scene at the event in Oklahoma City and tweeted the following shortly after Kyle's fight:
"Mike Kyle just walked by me seconds after losing to Gegard Mousasi and said, ‘It's not in me anymore. That was my last one.'"
Kyle's retirement comes as somewhat of a surprise as "MAK" had earned victories in five of his last eight fights. However, with the loss to Mousasi, Kyle had only won one of his last four.
The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product exits the sport with a 19-9-1 (2 "No contest") record, including a notable victory over former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Rafael Cavalcante.
The 32-year-old competed in organization's such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), King of the Cage (KOTC) and Strikeforce over the span of his 12-year career MMA career.
For complete results and blow-by-blow coverage of Strikeforce: "Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" click here.