7-year UFC vet Rafael 'Sapo' Natal announces retirement

After a 17-fight UFC run, Rafael Natal is hanging up his gloves.

The middleweight announced the decision on today’s edition of The MMA Hour. “Sapo” Natal (21-9-1 MMA, 9-7-1 UFC), a Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, most recently fought in July, when he suffered a knockout loss to Eryk Anders. The setback capped off a three-fight losing skid, including two knockouts.

“It’s very hard,” Natal said. “It was a long journey. I love MMA. I love training, cutting weight. But I’ve had some surgeries on my retina, on my eye. I’ve focused on that 100 percent of my life, during these 15 years. It’s time to step back. My mom’s asked this from me for a long time. It was a hard decision, but it’s what we have. I think it was a smart one.”

Before a loss to interim champion Robert Whittaker in April 2016, however, Natal was on quite the octagon roll. He’d beaten Chris Camozzi, Tom Watson, Uriah Hall, and Kevin Casey consecutively. Natal, who kicked off his pro MMA run in 2005, was Ring of Combat’s 185-pound champion.

While Natal never got a chance to fight for a UFC title, he did headline an event – when he subbed in for light heavyweight titleholder Lyoto Machida in a meeting with Tim Kennedy at UFC Fight Night 31. Natal was knocked out, snapping a three-fight winning streak.

Natal, who’s also a jiu-jitsu coach at Renzo Gracie Academy in New York, said that, despite the recent issues with the eye, he’d be healthy enough to fight should he desire to keep going. But he’s not only been getting pleas from his loved ones, he’s also got his focus elsewhere – as he’s opened an academy in Brazil and plans to do the same in the U.S.

Natal, however, says he’s open to taking grappling matches and will stay involved in MMA, though in a different capacity.

Asked to speak about the most memorable moment of his career, Natal couldn’t narrow it down to one. But he did mention the UFC Fight Night 28 unanimous-decision win over Tor Troeng in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, as well as the Kennedy headliner.

Not to mention a special occasion back in 2010.

“One moment that was magical was when I got the contract with the UFC,” Natal said.

Asked whether there was a possibility he would follow the example of some of his peers, who made comebacks after hanging up their gloves, Natal wouldn’t entirely shut the door on a return. But he did say it would be quite hard to bring him out of retirement.

“That’s my decision now,” Natal said. “I learned in this sport to never say never.”

Throughout his 17-fight UFC tenure, Natal gathered some impressive stats. With 36 takedowns, he’s tied with former champion Chris Weidman for most takedowns in 185-pound history. He’s also the sixth fighter with most cage time in divisional history and has landed the 4th highest number of total strikes.

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