One of the best to ever do it outside of the UFC, Mamed Khalidov announced his retirement from MMA following his rematch defeat to Tomasz Narkun at KSW 46 on Saturday night.

Khalidov and Narkun had an immediate rematch after the latter handed Khalidov his first defeat in the sport for eight years and his first ever in KSW.

First time around, Narkun defeated Khalidov with a third-round triangle choke. In the rematch, Narkun edged a close fight to take the unanimous decision victory, despite Khalidov scoring a first-round knockdown.

Khalidov announced his retirement from the sport in his post-fight interview inside the cage, making the symbolic gesture of leaving his gloves on the canvas.

According to Polish MMA journalist Bartek Stachura, Khalidov said he had planned to retire from MMA in the event of a defeat in this rematch and that he hadn’t informed anyone of his plans.

In light of the news, we pay respect to Mamed Khalidov, one of the best ever fighters to flourish outside of the UFC and one of the first to show how a European-based fighter can make a career out of MMA by largely competing within the continent.

It’s a testament to Khalidov that the Chechnya-born fighter became such a popular sporting figure in Poland. He became a Polish national in 2015 after spending most of his adult and professional life in the country.

Khalidov won both KSW middleweight and light heavyweight championships and amassed a record of 34-6-2 before retirement. Not bad for someone who went 3-3 in their first six fights, having lost his first two.