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West Valley City • All good things must come to an end, and for Utah's Rad Martinez, Friday night closed another chapter in a storied career at Bellator 114.

Martinez wants to be remembered as someone who was respectful, honest, tough, and "laid it out on the line every fight," he said.

From his humble beginnings at Clarion University — where he had a top-five NCAA finish — to the octagon of Bellator, Martinez has done what he loves, and he did it well. Getting the call from Bellator was his shining moment and he delivered with a 15-3 professional MMA record.

"Everything that I've done — I worked hard and I fought good tough guys. I lost some fights, but I won more than I lost and I've made some good friends along the way," said Martinez. "I wouldn't change any of it, it's been a heck of a journey from start to finish."

For his last fight, Bellator gave him the honor of closing out the event in front of his family and friends.

Before Martinez appeared for one last time, the crowd witnessed the semifinals of what Bellator calls, "The toughest tournament in sports," where fighters have a chance to win $100,000.

In the featherweight division, Desmond Green and Daniel Weichel both won their bouts by unanimous decision and will now face each other in the final. Brett Cooper advanced by TKO in the middleweight division and will await his championship competitor.

The night's main event was for the Middleweight World Title as Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko retained his title against Brennan "The Irish Bad Boy" Ward with a crushing 10 finger guillotine (choke) in the second round.

Still, the night belonged to Martinez, 35, who defeated Edson Berto by unanimous decision.

"It was amazing," Martinez said. "The crowd motivated me and pushed me on. Then after, when I felt I won it, they were chanting ["Utah"] so loud. It's the best feeling to get a victory in my last fight and to do it here at home; I couldn't have capped it off any better." —

"Everything that I've done — I worked hard and I fought good tough guys. I lost some fights, but I won more than I lost and I've made some good friends along the way. I wouldn't change any of it, it's been a heck of a journey from start to finish."

Rad Martinez

Utah MMA fighter