Cole Konrad, Bellator Heavyweight Champion hangs up his gloves
Posted on September 13, 2012, 08:08 PM by Mike Searson
Bellator Heavyweight champion Cole Konrad (9-0 MMA, 7-0 BFC) has retired, the promotion announced today. Konrad walks away from MMA with an unblemished record and is set to become an agriculture commodities trader specializing in dairy products.
The Wisconsin-native stated: "This decision has been on my mind for a while, and the time was finally right to make the move."
Konrad wrestled for the University of Minnesota, where he was a Division I national champ in 2006 and 2007, a four-time All-America selection and a three-time Big Ten Conference champ. Konrad began his MMA training at Team Death Clutch in Minnesota which was started by former UFC champ Brock Lesnar. In 2010, the first year of his pro-MMA career, he maintained a 7-0 record and won the Bellator Heavyweight championship tournament.
However Konrad says his career as a fighter is over: "I wrestled my whole life, and it was one of the only things I ever knew. When my college career was over, MMA seemed like the natural progression, but it was never really my passion. I thoroughly enjoyed my time inside the Bellator cage, but having the consistency and stability of going to the office every day is something that just made sense to me. I can’t say enough good things about my time with Bellator. I enjoyed every second of my time in the cage, and having a boss like Bjorn was a pleasure. Bellator does things the right way, and if I ever find myself back in the cage, there is no doubt in my mind it will be with Bellator."
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney had nothing but praise for Konrad and said he and matchmaker Sam Caplan will come up with a plan to fill the now vacant Heavyweight title: "There are very few fighters in MMA who can completely control a fight like Cole Konrad could. Cole's a very smart and gifted individual who will continue achieving excellence in everything he does. I wish Cole, his wife and family the very, very best as he moves into this new stage of his life. Cole was a great Bellator champion, and now Sam and I will determine exactly how and when the new Bellator heavyweight champion will be crowned."
Bellator's Season 7 Heavyweight tournament begins on October 5 at Bellator 75 in Hammond, Indiana.
Comments
whatever.
dairy products? did he choose this cause of his man boobs? titties like those must be pretty lucrative!
i would love to see you saying this boobs joke to his face, FirstnLast keybord emperor...
if u think i'd be afraid to make fun of it to his face, you;re wrong. i would. And im sure if he got angry enough he'd squash me like a grape, but, that doesn't change that it was a joke, u fagg ot ass piece of shit. and believe me, i would absolutely say that to YOUR face, and id be the one squashing you. keyboard warrior? that's kind of an overused expression these days... did i say id kick his ass? or that hes a pussy? or anything along those lines? nope, i said hes got manboobs (which he does). i live in montreal, you can come down anytime and ill rip your tits off gaul
watch out we have a badass over here!
give me you full adress keybord emperor, ill come for a tits surgery
really? sure.
my address is 201 Drouin, chateauguay QC
you might want to advise me when you'll be coming so ill be home to smash your pussy french ass. we all know the french are pussies, WWII is the only example that needs to be cited.especially a queer bag who names himself after charles de gaul. I welcome you to pay me a visit. then i welcome you to come back to lowkick n blog about the coma you just arose from.
He should hang up his gut while he's at it.
why is everyone hating. this guy only had 7 fights. but yea. wtf your family's company will be there when your 40
"is set to become an agriculture commodities trader specializing in dairy products."
I thought he specialized in eating milk products!
Or maybe he means my career with Bellator is over. Could he actually be letting his contract expire, then hello UFC?
By the way Mike, good article but how can you not mention the age of a guy when he's 'retiring' so young? He's 28 if anyone is interested.
Crane- He said in a few interviews that if he does come back it will be with Bellator. We'll see what actually happens down the line.
Good luck to Konrad and his future endeavors.The man walked away as a champion which is no small feat.
Good athlete and had some potential but to be honest doesn't really bother me he is leaving, for the majority of his career all he did was lay and pray - something that should be not existent in the HW division.