RIVERA'S BIGGEST STRUGGLE WASN'T INSIDE THE CAGE
On the horn:
LEAD SR WRITER
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Jorge Rivera leaving the cage for the last time after beating Eric Shafer at UFC on FX 1. |
At the UFC on FX 1 event that took place last night on national television, UFC middleweight Jorge Rivera (20-9) knocked out Eric Shafer (12-7-2) in the second round of what would be his final fight.
Rivera said he made the decision to retire win, lose, or draw at the start of training camp and his victory over Shafer won't change his mind about setting off to the MMA sunset he told mmajunkie.
"I just told myself I would leave no matter what happens," Rivera said.
(CONTINUED)...Rivera's Legacy Discussed
"If I would have won my last fight, I would have walked away, But that's not how it worked out."
UFC 127 EXCHANGE OF WORDS: "If I would have won my last fight, I would have walked away, But that's not how it worked out."
The TKO victory stops a two fight slide
for Rivera and gives him his fourteenth knock out victory. After Rivera pounded
Shafer out of the contest, he told the fans that retirement was the next step
for him at age 39.
"It
was the start of the camp, I had a school opening up," Rivera said.
"...I
saw the future and what I wanted to do and how I wanted to go about it, and I
had had enough."
Rivera wasn't the biggest UFC draw, but
he was always a game opponent when his name was called to put on a show in his
almost thirty fight career,
Many may not know that he made his UFC
debut in just his eighth career bout against a 9-2 David Loiseau and fought two
solid rounds against UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, before being
finished by the future MMA phenom.
Rivera beat Loiseau by unanimous decision, which was big at the time
because Loiseau was a rising name in the UFC and had just won his last fight by
first round KO. Loiseau (20-10) went on to beat former UFC middle weight champion
Evan Turner (32 -8) to further solidify Rivera's victory over a quality
opponent.
The biggest fight many will remember him
for is against Michael "The Count" Bisping (22-3) at UFC 127. It was
a fight that Bisping was upset about because he felt Rivera wasn't a top level
fighter and that Rivera made multiple videos and jokes teasing Bisping and his
antics leading up to the bout.
Bisping beat Rivera by TKO in the second round of that fight, but the two eventually made amends after they got an opportunity to punch each other's anger out.
Although this fight may have been his biggest in the UFC (going 8-7 inside the octagon), I believe that the biggest thing Rivera should be known for in MMA is overcoming the loss of his eldest daughter in 2008 and coming back to win multiple time the next year.
“I got a phone call on the fourth [of August 2008], and it was from
her mother and she said she was very sick and I could tell by the tone
of her voice that it was serious," Rivera said.
"I went to go see her and I never got
to talk to her. It’s horrible, I do not wish that upon anybody.”
His 17 year old daughter died due to complications related to the birth control medication she was taking and clearly it affected Rivera.
As would most parents, he struggled to cope with that loss. The Boston Herald reported that the medication Rivera's daughter taking increased
the risk of deep vein thrombosis.
"A condition in which blood clots form
in a vein. The clots can break off and get lodged in the lungs causing a
pulmonary embolus," The Boston Herald said.
"(Embolus) decreases the ability of the body to get
oxygen into the blood stream.”
Rivera overcame his loss enough to get back in the gym and eventually into the cage. When he finally came back to the octagon he pulled of three consecutive victories in the UFC, including two back to back knock outs over Nate Quarry (12-4) and Rob Kimmons (24-8) before meeting Bisping at UFC 127.
His TKO victory over Eric Shafer at UFC on FX 1 will be a lasting bright spot for "El Conquistador" who always brought the fight to anyone he went up against. Personally it was a pleasure to see his name on UFC cards because it was guaranteed to be a throw down.
Rivera is happy about the piece of MMA he carved out for himself.
"I'm
very happy with what I've done here and I'm very happy with what it gave back
to me, and it's time to go," Rivera said.
"I'm happy to be going with a
W."
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