Image credit: Bellator
Former Strikeforce champion & UFC, Bellator veteran, Josh Thomson announces retirement
Josh Thomson retirement announcement made
Josh Thomson has officially called it a career.
Thomson was speaking on his Weighing In podcast with host ‘Big’ John McCarthy and announced his retirement.
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“I can say that I’m officially retired,” Thomson began (via BJPENN.com).
Josh Thomson who is now 41 has not fought since Bellator 172 in February of 2017 where he was knocked out by Patricky Freire. Although he has not fought in nearly three years he was always keeping his options open and was looking for the fourth fight with Gilbert Melendez.
The 41-year-old also explained why he retired and it is due to him not wanting to take unnecessary damage.
“I realized I was taking more shots than I should be taking,” Thomson said of his decision. “I don’t want to live that lifestyle. I don’t want to be in there and be a punching bag to anybody. I was taking more [damage] in training [too].
“That’s the thing, people only see the ones you take in the fight,” Thomson continued. “They don’t realize that you’re taking more [shots] in training, too. There’s young, talented studs in my gym. Those guys are whooping your ass too, it’s not just the one guy in the cage that you’re fighting. It’s the lead-up to it. It’s all the other shots you take in there. That’s the hardest part.”
Josh Thomson is the former Strikeforce lightweight champion when he defeated Gilbert Melendez. He would then lose the belt to Melendez and would later fight again for the belt. It was an amazing trilogy, but Thomson also had success in the UFC. There, his biggest achievement was the head kick TKO win over Nate Diaz. In the Las Vegas-based promotion he went 1-3 with two losses to Benson Henderson and Tony Ferguson.
In Bellator, Thomson went 2-1 but took over an analyst role and will continue to do that in retirement.
It was an amazing career for the former Strikeforce lightweight champion.
