Following Bellator 96 Loss, Seth Petruzelli Joins ‘Babalu’ Sobral in Retirement

“The Silverback” made his announcement via Facebook early Friday:

“I want to thank my family, friends, fiancé and fans for being by my side these past 13 years plus of my MMA career. Every time I fought it was to please and excite you but most of all make you proud of me. Up until a couple years ago it pleased and excited me as well. That is where I went wrong; for the past couple years I have been fighting for the wrong reasons.

“I don’t have the desire or drive to fight like I used to, and the past couple fights have shown it. So at this point in my life I would like to officially announce my retirement from the sport of MMA. Competing has been a part of my life since I was six years old; now I would like to put more of an effort into seeing my students/fighters do the same and making my gym grow and flourish. MMA has taken me around the world. [It] let me meet the best and worst of people and made me feel like the brightest star but also like a black hole at times … and I have no regrets, because I did it all my way.”

Both Petruzelli and “Babalu” were finished in their Summer Series light heavyweight tournament quarterfinal bouts on Wednesday, with Sobral suffering a third-round technical knockout defeat to Jacob Noe and Petruzelli sustaining a first-round KO at the hands of Muhammed Lawal. Bellator 96 took place at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and aired live on Spike TV.

Petruzelli, 33, hangs up his gloves on the heels of back-to-back losses. A veteran of the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, EliteXC and Bellator, “The Silverback” began his pro career in 2000 and leaves the sport with a lifetime ledger of 14-8 with 12 knockouts. The most widely known win of Petruzelli’s career likely came in October 2008, when he stepped up on short notice to knock out backyard brawler Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson at EliteXC “Heat” live on CBS.

Like Petruzelli, Sobral also ends his career with four defeats in his final six bouts. The 37-year-old competed 48 times over nearly 16 years as a professional, beginning his career in his native Brazil before moving on to Japan’s Rings promotion and later the UFC, where he challenged Chuck Liddell for the light heavyweight title in 2006. Though he was knocked out by “The Iceman,” Sobral went on to capture the Strikeforce light heavyweight crown in 2008, losing that belt to Gegard Mousasi the following year.