Current Titan FC lightweight champion, Rick Hawn, has decided his time in mixed martial arts (MMA) has come to end.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Hawn -- who spent the majority of his career competing for Bellator MMA -- broke the news and revealed that at 39 years of age (and on a three-fight win streak), now was the perfect time to hang up his gloves for good.
His words:
"After giving it a lot of thought, I had the best fight of my career a few weeks ago winning the lightweight title for Titan FC; and it's been a long road. You've been around, you've seen me In Bellator. I'm 39 years old, so yeah it's time to hang it up. I'm going to go out on top, holding the belt. It's just one of those things, I'm not a young kid anymore and it's a hard sport. I am going to go out on my own terms, So yeah, I am retiring from MMA."
Hawn -- who competed in judo at the 2004 Olympics -- revealed that he contemplated retirement a few years ago when he was having contractual disputes with Bellator.
Prior to getting the call to fight for the Titan FC 155-pound title against Pat Healy last month, Hawn declared his mind had already been made up to walk away from the sport, but ultimately decided to make one last run at gold.
In the end, it all worked out, as Hawn -- who will leave the sport with an impressive 21-4 record -- will walk away on top after taking out "Bam Bam" via split decision.
Rick will now focus on opening up his own gym which will focus on karate, jiu-jitsu, and judo.