Approaching two years since his last fight, former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin on Tuesday announced his retirement from MMA.

Carwin (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) leaves the sport on a two-fight skid, but more importantly after fighting through injuries and surgeries.

Carwin posted on his Twitter account late Tuesday: “Officially retired 2day:-) thank you to my family, friends and fans! #dreambig GOD BLESS!!!”

Carwin last fought at UFC 131 in June 2011 against Junior dos Santos in a heavyweight title eliminator. He took Dos Santos the distance, but dropped a unanimous decision.

Several months later, he said he expected to be back by the start of 2012. But not long after that, he revealed back surgery would sideline him until the middle of 2012.

That recovery took longer than planned, but Carwin hoped to return in the fall. While recovering, he was tapped to coach Season 16 of “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite Roy Nelson, with a fight planned for December.

But a month before the fight, a knee injury knocked Carwin out of that bout.

And after a neck surgery in 2011, the back surgery and the knee injury, the 38-year-old Carwin elected to hang up the gloves.

Carwin signed with the UFC in 2008 after starting his pro career 8-0 with eight first-round stoppages, including Ring of Fire’s heavyweight title.

His run of first-round finishes continued in the UFC with knockout wins over Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain and Gabriel Gonzaga.

In March 2010, with champion Brock Lesnar sidelined, Carwin fought Frank Mir for the interim heavyweight title and finished Mir with a “Knockout of the Night” performance – also in the first round.

That win set up a title unification fight against Lesnar, and through five minutes, Carwin appeared on the way to the belt. After taking a beating from Carwin, Lesnar survived the round – and Carwin had nothing left in the tank in the second, eventually tapping to an arm-triangle choke.

Carwin underwent his neck surgery later that year, then returned for the fight with Dos Santos – which would be his last.

Amazingly, in Carwin’s 12-0 start to his career, his fights averaged just 81 seconds.

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MMA may be struggling to become legal in New York, but neighboring Connecticut is one step closer.

The state on Tuesday saw a bill to legalize the sport pass its House of Representatives by a resounding margin.

HB-5277 passed by a 117-26 vote. It now moves on to the state senate, where if brought for a vote would then put the sport on the cusp of legalization in the state.

The UFC in particular has been working to get the sport sanctioned in New York. But in part thanks to roadblocks put up by the Las Vegas Culinary Workers Union 226, the sport is not yet legal there.

Without being able to host fights in New York, the UFC makes regular visits to nearby New Jersey. Connecticut soon could be on that list.

UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta is hoping the bill will find its way to the governor’s desk if it’s allowed to be put to a vote in the state senate.

“I want to thank the House members who supported this bill,” Fertitta stated. “It’s the right thing to do for the thousands of Connecticut MMA and UFC fans, for economic development in the state and for jobs. We will now turn our attention to the Senate and urge the leadership to permit the bill to be voted upon. We are confident that if Senators are allowed to vote on the bill, it will pass with strong bipartisan support.”

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Charles Clemons and Sen. Andres Ayala, already enjoys bipartisan support with 34 co-sponsors.

“Legalizing MMA is the right thing to do,” Clemons stated. “I am proud of my colleagues in the House for the strong support they gave the bill and I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to turn this bill into a law in 2013. The bill had strong support in the Committee on Public Safety and Security, the Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding, and on the floor of the House. The majority of representatives – Democrats and Republicans – know that this is the right thing to do for Connecticut.”

One of the strong pushes by the UFC in particular in New York is that legalizing the sport in the state will have a strong economic impact when the promotion holds events in New York City, as well as cities like Albany, Rochester and Syracuse.

Ayala believes that will be the case for his state, as well.

“If MMA is legalized in Connecticut, it will mean jobs – union jobs – and economic activity for people and communities where it is desperately needed,” Ayala stated. “MMA is the fastest growing sport in the nation. Fans in Connecticut watch it on broadcast, cable and pay-per-view television. They travel to other states and countries to watch it live. We should legalize it here in Connecticut and attract fans from other states and countries to our communities.”

The UFC has many athletes on its roster from nearby New York. Light heavyweight Glover Teixeira trains in Danbury, Conn., at an American Top Team location.

“The UFC is eager to hold events in Hartford and Bridgeport, and we know other national and regional MMA promoters look forward to holding events here, as well,” Fertitta stated. “And I know that Danbury resident and UFC light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira would love to fight close to home for his fans. And if the Senate passes the bill, we would love to make that happen.”

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Ronda Rousey isn’t sure who will win this weekend’s title eliminator at The Ultimate Fighter 17, but she sees advantages to fighting both Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano.

The two potential opponents fight on the main card of Saturday’s event, which airs on FX (9 p.m. ET) from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The winner not only gets a lucrative pay-per-view title fight with Rousey, the UFC’s reigning women’s bantamweight champion, but she also gets a head-coaching slot against the Olympian on the upcoming 18th season of TUF,which features male and female fighters for the first time.

Rousey (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who took the Strikeforce title from Tate (13-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) 13 months ago, would like to continue their beef on the reality show. But she also feels there’s something to be said for fighting a fellow undefeated fighter such as Zingano (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

“I think I would prefer to coach against Miesha, so I’m kind of rooting for her,” Rousey said Tuesday on FUEL TV’s UFC Tonight. “But to have two undefeated fighters fighting for a title – which it would be against Cat – is something that I think would be an amazing experience as well.”

Rousey, who already is one of the UFC’s biggest PPV draws, made her UFC debut and won the first women’s fight in UFC history in February by submitting Liz Carmouche with her trademark first-round armbar.

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Two days after his 19-second knockout win over Philip De Fries, UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione has had his contract suspended by the promotion.

In a Monday appearance on The MMA Hour, Mitrione called Fallon Fox a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak.”

In response, the UFC issued a statement saying the TUF 10 veteran’s contract has been suspended and he will be investigated.

“The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione today in an interview on ‘The MMA Hour,’” the statement read. “The organization finds Mr. Mitrione’s comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and – as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC’s code of conduct – Mr. Mitrione’s UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated. The UFC is a friend and ally of the (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect.”

The UFC in January announced a code of conduct for its fighters under contract.

Fox has been a near-permanent fixture in MMA news for the better part of the past month after SI.com reported that Fox, 37, had gender reassignment surgery in 2006 along with supplemental hormonal therapy.

Fox holds a 5-0 combined record as a professional and amateur fighter with all five wins coming in the first round. But the controversy has been centered around her potential opponents and whether they’re entering into fair fights with her.

Peggy Morgan recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) she wasn’t convinced that Fox didn’t hold a physical advantage over other women in the cage, despite the fact that “socially, yes, she is a woman.”

In the interview, Mitrione repeated referred to Fox as “he” and “him” and said he was “appalled” by Fox fighting other women.

“It’s an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that,” Mitrione said. “The woman that’s fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope he gets blackballed and never fights again because that’s disgusting and I’m appalled by that.”

Mitrione (6-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) on Saturday snapped a two-fight losing skid at UFC on FUEL TV 9 when he stopped De Fries quickly in the first round in Sweden. How quickly, if at all, he’ll be allowed back in the octagon to go after a second straight win remains to be seen.

Mitrione did not immediately return a request for comment.

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