Puno quietly retires from the sport

Fighter profile of Jeronimo Puno by Chris Karter

Following his TKO cut loss to Billy Bob Brown at Combate 137, the now former Combate Heavyweight champion Jeronimo Puno (24-10 MMA, 7-2 Combate) quietly retired from the sport, congratulating his opponent before placing his gloves inside the cage and stepping away.

He didn't do an interview. He didn't make any noise. He just walked away from human cockfighting and got on the fastest plane to the Bahamas. For a Puno, and son of Kajun, two former #1 P4P fighters and legends of the sport, Jeronimo's career was a bit of a disappointment in comparison. Although he is a two-time Combate Heavyweight champion, it seemed like he squandered every opportunity to burst into stardom, failing to put together a win streak longer than 4. However, his shortcomings might not all have been his fault. 4 of his 10 TKO losses are due to cut stoppages. Some would argue corrupt officials, dirty laundry, and incompetent Brazilian doctors as the reason for this. Puno fans would be inclined to believe this true, and the evidence supports such a notion. Unlike most Heavyweight fighters, Puno believed in Mixed Martial Arts. He had a brown belt in BJJ and finished his career with 3 submission victories. Perhaps he would have had more submission victories if it weren't for the primal urges stemming from the Pinoy savagery infused into his DNA. Naturally, he just likes to smash mugs and break pretty things. 19 of his 24 wins came by way of knockout and he was the recipient of 5 knockout of the night awards, 2 sub of the night, and 1 fight of the night award. Some things are certain in the foreseeable future; Jeronimo's footprint in MMA will be forgotten, and there will be a seed to carry the Puno legacy into the next ID generation.

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