Swedish lightweight fighter Martin Svensson has shocked many by announcing his retirement from mixed martial arts competition. Svensson was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter Season 22 and fought once in the UFC. He announced his retirement on Facebook.
Svensson’s last fight was in the main event of Cage Warriors 79, where he submitted Scott Clist. The Swede seemed relatively close to a title shot, and had traded words online with current Cage Warriors Lightweight Champion Chris Fishgold. The 31-year-old retires with a record of 15-6.
Svensson debuted in 2008 and spent the best part of five years competing on the Swedish regional scene, but it was in 2013 that he made his Cage Warriors debut. Unfortunately, the Frontier MMA Academy product was on the wrong end of a judges decision after five rounds against Jim Alers. His next fight was against Artem Lobov at Trophy MMA 3, but he lost the bout via TKO in the second round. Svensson rebounded from the loss by taking a split decision victory over Robbie Olivier at Cage Warriors 66 before walking away with another decision victory, this time over Dave Hill at Cage Warriors 71. He then went on to compete in The Ultimate Fighter Season 22, but after two submission victories on the show, Svensson lost in his UFC debut to David Teymur. Following his release from the UFC, the Swede returned to Cage Warriors, and submitted Scott Clist in the main event of Cage Warriors 79.
This definitely shakes up the Cage Warriors lightweight division, with a legitimate title contender retiring, it will be interesting to see who gets the next shot at Chris Fishgold in April.
