Manny Gamburyan retires after 17-year MMA career

One of the UFC's mainstays hung up the gloves Saturday in Sao Paulo.

Following a TKO loss to Johnny Eduardo at UFC Fight Night 100, veteran bantamweight Manny Gamburyan used his post-fight interview to announce that he would be retiring after a 17-year career.

"This might surprise a lot of people or even my family, my friends - it's been a long road, it's been tough," Gamburyan said, according to Damon Martin of FOX Sports. "I came out here, it was my first time being in Brazil, I had a great time, but I think this is it for me, guys. I'm going to call it a career probably."

The 35-year-old Gamburyan competed a combined 19 times for the UFC and sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting. "The Anvil" first made a name for himself as a stout and powerful lightweight on "The Ultimate Fighter 5" where he made it to that season's tournament final before losing to Nate Diaz.

After an uneven start to his UFC career, Gamburyan moved over to the WEC's 145-pound division. He went 3-0 to set up a bout with featherweight champion Jose Aldo in 2010, falling in the second round to the Brazilian superstar.

Gamburyan returned to the UFC in 2011 and dropped down to 135 pounds in 2014. He started off 2-0 before suffering TKO losses to John Dodson and Eduardo.

Gamburyan compiled a 6-8 record inside the Octagon and a 15-10 record overall as a professional (with one no-contest) .

"I had a great time, it was a great career," Gamburyan said. "I came out here, I never thought about it but I felt like it's getting hard and I think this is it."