UFC's James Te Huna retires from MMA after 20-year combat career

Ultimate Fighting Championship (FC) will be without one less Light Heavyweight on its roster, as James Te Huna has officially announced his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA).

The heavy-handed brawler announced his decision via Facebook:

Hey guys ..yes I'm alive haha, it's been a couple months since my last post and I apologise for my absence. I have discovered something that is tough to swallow (but made a lot of sense) since the last fight but this recent decision is a positive step towards a healthy future, I hope you can all understand. I gave it everything I had guys, and those closest to me know how much of my life I gave to competition-I didn't have the gift when I started..just put in the work to chase a childhood dream. This career has expanded to 20 years and I have/am very grateful for all the help and support that I have received along this amazing journey. I got to learn and gain respect, discipline from martial arts, my culture and my family. Living a healthy lifestyle (minus the hospitals lol). Experiencing the positives and negatives of a sport-I have been through it all and I'll be using this knowledge in my next venture. I received a lot of help and I always done my best to give back whenever I could. I would like to encourage the youth to get involved and I will continue to promote. There have been a lot of proud moments-having the opportunity to represent my culture to the world, but most of all being told from the person who I looked up to, my nephew my namesake. Again, thank you guys for all the support and a big thank you to my family.

Kia ora
Jamie

Te Huna was riding a four-fight losing streak prior to calling it quits, losing to Glover Teixeira. Mauricio Rua, Nate Marquardt and more recently to Steve Bosse.

All four defeats were first-round finishes.

Te Huna has been a fixture in UFC's 205-pound division for the last six years, racking up wins over Anthony Perosh, Joey Beltran and Ryan Jimmo.

James (34) leaves UFC with an even 5-5 record, 16-9 overall.