It wasn’t long ago when Brian Melancon had reached the pinnacle of what every MMA fighter wants to accomplish; he signed with the UFC. But today, that journey came to an end when Melancon announced his retirement from the sport via Facebook.
It has been announced, I am sad to say that my fight career is over. I have been having kidney problems that have gotten much worse recently and just found out that my kidney function has dropped to 47%. If I continue to train, fight, and cut weight then I run the risk of permanent damage. I have been advised by my Specialist to retire and move on and that is what I will be doing. This is not how I wanted to go out, but I have to believe that God has another path for me. Thanks to all of you who supported me throughout my career.
Over the course of a 10 fight career, Melancon amassed a record of 7-3 (1-1 UFC) with five of those wins coming by stoppage. On the road to the UFC, Melancon has fought for some notable organizations including Legacy FC, Strikeforce, and Bellator.
After his last Strikforce fight, Melancon took two years off from fighting secure his family financially with a full time job as a physical therapist. The only way he would fight again would be if the UFC called, and they did. He had two fights in the organization, with one of those being a knockout win in his debut against Seth Baczynski.
His next fight was set against Robert Walker in Australia at UFC Fight Night 33, but the entire fight has been scrapped because of his retirement.
We wish Brian the best of luck in his future endeavors.
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