Mitch Clarke gave a very Canadian retirement speech after UFC 215 loss

Mitch Clarke took an absolute pummeling at the hands of Alex White at UFC 215, which meant that when he went to address the crowd after his second-round TKO loss, he had to look out at them through two eyes that were both nearly swollen shut.

Despite the blood and the evident bruises, Clarke still managed a retirement speech that was as about as gracious and polite – and, let’s just say it, Canadian – as any we’ve ever heard in the UFC (via Twitter):

Clarke (11-5 MMA, 2-5 UFC) began by thanking commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier for praising his toughness while he was busy eating a torrent of elbows from White (12-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) early in the second (and it really was a sight to behold), then admitting that basically his entire MMA career had been built on being tough enough to overcome some athletic deficiencies. That’s when he told us his career was actually over.

“It was an absolute pleasure to fight in front of my adopted hometown of Edmonton,” Clarke said. “And although I did not get the result I wanted, it was an absolute pleasure to have my last professional fight here in Edmonton.”

If you want to know how beloved Clarke is for his willingness to take five to land one, just listen to the lamentation of the crowd when he makes the announcement. Clearly, this is a guy who will be missed on the Canadian scene.

Then again, he did specify that it would be his last “professional” fight. So maybe Clarke will see you on the streets later, where he will no doubt be very polite even as the fists are flying.

For more on UFC 215, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.