10 UFC Fighters Who Need To Retire

8. Stefan Struve

I feel almost as if I'm taking a cheap shot here, but Stefan Struve really needs to rethink his return to the octagon. Diagnosed with an enlarged heart ("sport heart") and a leaking valve subsequent to having his jaw broken by Mark Hunt, Struve attempted to return to the UFC earlier this month at UFC 175 in a fight with Matt Mitrione - only to have a panic attack back stage that resulted in heart palpitations, which in turn caused his fight to be waved off. The official party line is that the incident wasn't brought on by his previously identified heart condition - only in essence, it was. I've personally been through something similar, which involved a minor operation on my heart (minor in that it was not open heart but done via cardiac catheterization). I know how the recovery can be - every time your heart skips a beat you get a moment of panic. You're constantly monitoring your pulse, which means you are, essentially, stressing yourself out, which in turn puts more stress on the old ticker - basically it's a vicious cycle. Struve's going through that, and I can certainly relate to it. I also don't think I'd want to get in the octagon and take blows from guys weighing upwards of 250lbs at this point, and I'm years out from recovery. Struve is a trained professional, I am not, but you get the idea. Struve basically has a condition that is being kept under control, but that doesn't mean its gone. Now add to this the fact that Struve is only 26 years old - but has had over 30 professional MMA fighters, and has been knocked out four times in the UFC (and five times in his career). It's the Indiana Jones situation again - only here, Struve's mileage is awfully high for his age. For the sake of his health, Struve needs to call it a career.