Fedor (32-2 with one no contest) made his professional MMA debut in May 2000, but it wasn't until last June when he suffered his first definitive loss, a triangle choke submission.
Fedor, who also placed in Sambo and judo championships in Russia several years before making the jump to MMA, factors age and accumulated injuries as reasons for hanging up his gloves. He turns 35 this September.
"This is just because of my age," Fedor continued, through a translator. "Because of my age, because for the heavyweight sportsman my age is considered a very big one. So sometimes I'm thinking about maybe finishing my sports career because also my former injuries started reminding me about themselves. But I hope that I still will have some time to fight."This Saturday, Fedor heads into his 36th MMA fight taking on Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in an opening round matchup of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix in East Rutherfod, N.J. Fedor stands to fight at least three times this year if he beats Silva and then proceeds to win a semifinals matchup against the winner of Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum.
All Fedor's retirement thoughts, though, are exactly that, thoughts. Fedor says he's thinking he has around a year left, but he also says he makes no plans and will leave it up to God to determine how much longer he will actually fight.
"I think maybe about a year and after it, it's God's will," Fedor said.
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