Yves Edwards retires

Yves Edwards has retired from mixed martial arts competition, after 17 years of competition. The Bahamian fought in the UFC for the first time in 2001, and for the last time, last week. The ATT fighter retires with a record of 44-22-1. While the record is not on it’s face remarkable, mixed martial arts is not boxing. Randy Couture retired 19-11. Mark Coleman retired 16-10. Given the quality of his opposition, Edwards retires with a great, great record.

Career wins include Rich Clementi, Hermes Franca, and and a perpetual highlight reel headkick KO over Josh Thomson. A ferocious competitor, he once fought eight times in a year. He had 21 fights in the UFC including the last 11, plus fought in Pride, WEC, Bellator, Shooto, HOOKnSHOOT, KOTC, and a host of other promotions.

And as the hardcore fanbase knows, the ‘Thug-Jitsu’ always ate with remarkable relish post weigh in.

Edwards, 38, made the announcement via Facebook.

I’ve thought about how to say this for a week now, but there’s no better way than to just do it. So here goes; 1st I’d like to say thank you to all the people that I’ve met through and because of fighting, friends, training partners, coaches, fight fans, doctors and even some promoters/matchmakers. A lot of you guys have always shown me nothing but love and I really appreciate that.

Fighting has been a part of my life ever since I was 17 and that makes this a hard pill to swallow but it’s time for me to end this chapter and move on to the next part of my life. So thank you again to all the people that have supported me through this, whether it was through cheers, training, coaching or anything else at all.

Yves

Edwards was once one of the greatest lightweights in the sport, and throughout his career brought class and excitement to every cage, ring, or mat he stepped into.