Following over a year of speculation, Adlan Amagov officially announced his retirement from MMA competition several months ago to the disappointment of countless fans of the sport. Some initially assumed that religious reasons were a factor in his decision, yet the 28-year-old Amagov confirmed that he was simply "tired."

A fan favourite in the welterweight division, Amagov was renowned for his kicking game and flexibility, which helped him compile an impressive record full of flashy knockouts. The Chechen native was one of the UFC's top Russian fighters at the time and had compiled a 2-0 record under the banner before embarking on an extended spell on the sidelines.

Amagov was scheduled to face Jason High at the start of 2014 but pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. While he constantly shrugged off the suggestion that he would part ways with the sport, BloodyElbow.com later revealed that Amagov had already made the decision to step aside from professional competition.

"I just decided to stop," Amagov told prosport-online.ru. "The decision came spontaneously. I was lying on the bed thinking about what to do next."

One of Amagov's main reasons for retirement was the weight cut he put his body through to fight at welterweight. According to the Chechen, he cut 35-pounds ahead of his last fight, which was an absolute nightmare.

"Here I cannot lie. In the last fight I was 16 kg overweight. It was hard. I usually weighed 92-93kg. For 40 days before the last fight, I ate well and then stood on the scale out of interest - 95.5 kg! And my category was 77 kg. It was just awful."

Amagov was also asked whether he ended his career for religious reasons, to which he responded, "No, mostly just tired."

The Chechen fighter compiled a 13-2-1 record during his six-year professional MMA career and was on a three-fight win streak when he decided to step away. His last pro loss came against current UFC champion Robbie Lawler. Asked if he would return to the Octagon to challenge Lawler, Amagov sidestepped a direct answer by stating that "everyone would agree" to such a hypothetical situation.

"Robbie Lawler? At once? Probably everyone would agree. Robbie is now the champion. After our fight he gained experience. I repeat, everyone would agree to fight the champion.

"Perhaps it would be an interesting rematch."