After participating in more than 120 fights, Dan Severn has finally decided that it’s time to hang up his MMA gloves and move on from life inside the cage.

Severn, a UFC Hall of Famer, began his career in the UFC. Today that would seem unusual since the UFC is regarded as the pinnacle of mixed martial arts competition, and you don’t just start a career there unless you’re a freak athlete. When Dan started there was no measuring stick and no qualification standard. This was fighting, pure and simple and Dan answered the call.

Professional Wrestler and Actor Al Snow told BJPenn.com the story of Dan’s first time competing in the UFC.

“It was in Oklahoma City. Dan had tried to get in UFC 3 on his own and couldn’t get there”, Snow said.

“Phyllis Lee was involved in professional wrestling and she went and spoke to the UFC. She got Dan in and then he came and asked me to train him. Thinking back about it I never trained anyone for anything like that at the time. We could’ve and should’ve done a lot more to prepare, but we did what we could. There were no training camps back then because you didn’t have a clue what you were getting in to or who you were preparing for. The style you would face was a mystery, there was no video to watch, and it was really a fly by the seat of your pants type of thing. I was trying to figure out what I can do to counter strikes and takedowns. We worked hard, and Dan just went in there and did what a big bear of a guy does. He takes you down and mauls you. We were trying to figure it all out as we went”.

Dan Severn is an MMA legend and one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. He has an official professional mixed martial arts record of 101-19-7. His retirement from the sport is a sad day, but an understandably much needed separation from physical combat for the 54 year old fighter.

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