Soa Palelei Announces Retirement from UFC: Latest Comments and Reaction

UFC heavyweight fighter Soa Palelei announced his retirement Monday at the age of 38 with a 22-5 career record as a mixed martial arts professional.

Palelei announced the news on his Twitter account, indicating he'll still be involved in the sport in other ways:

"

I want to take an opportunity to officially announce my retirement from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Thank you to the UFC, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Joe Silva for giving me a second chance to fight for the organization. I've had a great time, but feel it's time to focus on my family and other career interests. After several months of thought and discussion with my family and my team, we realize our future includes many things in MMA, but active competition in the sport is no longer one of them. This isn't goodbye, as I will still be very much involved in the sport but just not as a fighter. I want to help further MMA around the world and give my contribution to the sport. I know that I have, and will continue to contribute much to the growth of our sport outside of the Octagon.

"

In his full-time company debut at UFC 164, the Hulk defeated Nikita Krylov on a technical knockout in August 2013 and rattled off two consecutive victories thereafter. This year, Palelei lost in his most recent appearance in the Octagon at UFC 190 versus Antonio Silva in August, dropping his UFC record to 4-3.

According to MMAFighting's Marc Raimondi, reports had circulated earlier Monday that Palelei had been cut by the UFC, but Palelei's announcement indicated that he instead was leaving the UFC voluntarily.

Back when it was thought Palelei was released, Bleacher Report's Patrick Wyman noted Palelei's absence will be a considerable blow to a perceptibly thin UFC heavyweight division:

Prior to arriving on the U.S. mixed martial arts scene, Palelei made a name for himself in his homeland as the Australian Fighting Championship's heavyweight champion. 

He initially won the title in April 2012 during a fight with Joe Kielur and successfully defended it against Sean McCorkle in his final fight before transitioning to the UFC for good.

It's unclear what Palelei's future intentions are, but he did raise $43,000 for Princess Margaret Hospital in Western Australia earlier this month. One would assume philanthropy and charity will be in Palelei's plans as he also seeks to remain around MMA in a non-fighting capacity.

Fight history courtesy of Sherdog.com.