Cole Konrad Retires

[Liverlips]

Very sad news. Cole is Bellator heavyweight champ and VERY good. He could have made a run at the UFC belt. He is only 28 so may change his mind.

2012 not kind to our heavyweights. We lost Brock, Fedor and now Cole in one year.


[h=1]Bellator heavyweight champ Cole Konrad retires, status of belt unknown[/h] by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Sep 12, 2012 at 4:35 pm ET

Suddenly, Bellator is without a heavyweight champ.

Cole Konrad, a two-time NCAA wrestling champ who transitioned to MMA and dominated the competition in the tournament-based promotion, is for now retiring from the sport.

Plans to find a new champion are unclear at the moment. The news first was reported by Twincities.com and subsequently confirmed to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) by a source close to the promotion.

The Twincities.com report said Konrad, 28, is leaving fighting to become a financial trader at a Minnesota-based firm that supplies ingredients to the feed, pet food, food processing and chemical industries. Konrad will specialize in trading milk products.

Bellator officials declined comment on Konrad's retirement.

Konrad (9-0 MMA, 7-0 BFC), who won his NCAA titles while at the University of Minnesota, made his MMA debut in 2010 and earned two wins before signing with Bellator. He went on to fight in the promotion's inaugural heavyweight tournament and swept the field to become the Bellator heavyweight champion.

He defended his title in March with a 60-second submission win over Eric Prindle.

 

[Liverlips]

A lot of the comments talk $#%^ about Konrad's physique. He was no bodybuilder but is strong as hell and never gassed. Imagine what he would do to one of the pussy bodybuilder types like Cheik Kongo.

 

[Anak]

Apparently he signed a horrible contract, good for him that he had something to fall back on. Unfortunate because he might have been dominant in the UFC.

 

[Anak]

A lot of the comments talk $#%^ about Konrad's physique. He was no bodybuilder but is strong as hell and never gassed. Imagine what he would do to one of the pussy bodybuilder types like Cheik Kongo.

Would have snapped his roided up arm like a twig.

 

[Hawkeye2]

But there is the possiblility that he could end up getting signed by UFC as well. The job he took doesn't pay that great, but unlike Bellator it is steady. Also Dana white has expressed disappointment with the lack of depth at the heavyweight division, UFC might go out and sign him.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

But there is the possiblility that he could end up getting signed by UFC as well. The job he took doesn't pay that great, but unlike Bellator it is steady. Also Dana white has expressed disappointment with the lack of depth at the heavyweight division, UFC might go out and sign him.

I hope that happens as he has talent & is still young.

As for the DWFs & their homo-esque "physique" comments...look at Fedor and then at Phil Baroni & his sub .500 record. I've said it here umpteen times...a fight does not = bodybuiling contest. Look what Roy Nelson did to that can Bimbo Lice.

 

[Liverlips]

Dixie, I would almost argue the opposite. Those bodybuilder types are often terrible fighters - or at best average.

Maybe they spend too much time hitting the weights and not enough time sparring.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Dixie, I would almost argue the opposite. Those bodybuilder types are often terrible fighters - or at best average.

Maybe they spend too much time hitting the weights and not enough time sparring.

That's the point I was aiming at. Mugs like Baroni, Bimbo Lice, that Steinway dude from TUF, etc. are cans. Whereas guys like Fedor, Josh Barnett & Roy Nelson have so-called "unimpressive" physiques yet are world class fighters.

Another example of overrated physiques in bodybuilding...because WSM competitors are much stronger & better athletes...yet most have so called "unimpressive" physiques (sans a few like Pudzian ;-).

 

[Liverlips]

Agreed brother! :mod: