Injury that booted Nick Catone from UFC on FOX 15 forces 'Jersey Devil' to retire

Happy trails!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Nick Catone has retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) after an injury forced him to withdraw from his Vitor Miranda bout at the upcoming UFC on FOX 15: "Machida vs. Rockhold" event, which takes place on April 18, 2015 inside Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

Catone, 33, finishes 10-4 and recently explained his decision to call it quits to UFC.com:

"In the last couple years I've had a lot of injuries. My back has probably been the biggest thing slowing me down. I'm not able to train like I used to. I train for a couple days, then I'm hurting for a couple days. I still fought because I enjoy it, but when I'm waking up in pain every day, I'm just not enjoying it anymore. I've got the little one at home, I have another one on the way, and I want to be able to have a life down the road and not be all banged up because I stayed in a little too long. I think my body's trying to tell me something, but it's a hard decision -- I've been competing since I'm seven years old and I'm having a tough time with it."

Miranda has also been pulled from the event and a replacement bout is expected to be announced shortly.

UFC on FOX 15 will be headlined by a fantastic 185-pound match up pitting Lyoto Machida opposite Luke Rockhold, while the recently-announced middleweight showdown between Jacare Souza and Yoel Romero takes place in the co-main event.

For more news, notes, and recent fight card announcements for UFC on FOX 15 click here.