When Akira Corassani was knocked out by Sam Sicilia in the 1st round of the UFC on Fox 14 main card opener in Stockholm, Sweden, it marked his 3rd straight defeat inside the Octagon, with all of them coming by (T)KO. After nearly 8 years in the sport, the 32-year-old has seemingly decided to hang up the gloves. While he never explicitly said the word “retirement” in a statement posted on his Facebook page, all of the indicators essentially point to exactly that:
I feel like I could write at least 8 books about my journey, the behind the scenes stuff and other craziness. If I found lamp today and rubbed it and a genie popped out and asked me to make a wish I would say “I wish every human being on earth could experience everything I have. Along the way I never thought of how many people I’d inspired, entertained and upset (mostly keyboard warriors). It is with deep joy I write this, I am full and content and I would never want to change a single thing. My brain has filed for a divorce and doesn’t want to cooperate anymore. The passion and the technique is there but every car has a date (except for the Swedish Volvo 740). I feel like I have so much to share, show and talk about and I will in the future… From the bottom of my heart… THANK YOU ALL FOR THE WONDERFUL 12 YEARS AND I TRULY LOVE AND APPRECIATE THAT YOU TUNED IN. It was all my pleasure folks. I salute you, THE END!?
If this is Akira’s farewell from the sport, he finishes his MMA career, which started back in 2007 against Dion Staring at light heavyweight — your eyes aren’t going bad, Akira fought at light heavyweight before — with a record of 12-6 with 1 no-contest. Corassani reached the semifinals of TUF 14 prior to officially signing onto the UFC’s roster, and proceeded to win 3 straight before losing his next 3 to Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, and Sicilia. When you factor in that his last win vs. Maximo Blanco was a DQ after he was blasted with an illegal knee strike to the head while downed, this is essentially a run of 4 straight fights where he’s taken serious punishment to the head. That in itself could easily explain the “My brain has filed for divorce” line.
Corassani isn’t the only Swedish fighter on the roster who is apparently finished competing in the sport. Mats Nilsson turned down a UFC fight and retired after losing his welterweight bout to Omari Akhmedov at UFC 182 earlier this month. He retires with an 11-2 record, although both defeats came in the UFC.
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